Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




DRAGON SPACE
What will China's Taikonauts do aboard Tiangong 1?
by Tony Quine
Isle of Man, UK (SPX) Jun 04, 2012


Tiangong-1's itself is known to be equipped with exercise gear, two sleep stations, and high-resolution interior cameras will allow the taikonauts to be closely monitored from the ground. One member of the module's three-person crew will sleep in the docked Shenzhou spacecraft.

Launch date is looming for three Chinese taikonauts, including the country's first woman in space, who will attempt to manually dock their Shenzhou 9 spacecraft at the orbiting Tiangong 1 space module. The docking will represent an important milestone, and the accomplishment of a key capability, on the Chinese roadmap towards establishing Space Station towards the end of the decade. But question arises, of what they will do, during their 10 day stay at the orbiting outpost, a 530 cubic feet module?

One simple task will be to retrieve a flag of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), which was onboard Tiangong 1 when it was launched last year.

The same flag has previously flown in space on the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station and a Russian Soyuz craft, and will be brought back to earth at the conclusion of the Shenzhou 9 mission. Presumably, it will be returned to the IAF, with appropriate ceremony, later this year.

One experiment which has been revealed, in the Chinese media, involves flying butterfly pupae into space, which should hatch during the course of the flight. Although precise details of the experiment have not been revealed, it appears to have been designed largely to engage the interest of Chinese school children.

Otherwise, little has been said about the precise work which the crew will undertake, the equipment which is installed in Tiangong 1 itself, or which might be brought into orbit inside the orbital module of Shenzhou 9 itself.

Tiangong-1's itself is known to be equipped with exercise gear, two sleep stations, and high-resolution interior cameras will allow the taikonauts to be closely monitored from the ground. One member of the module's three-person crew will sleep in the docked Shenzhou spacecraft.

Indeed, some reports from China have said that one crew member will stay in Shenzhou 9 for the whole flight, in case of unplanned emergencies. It is not clear if this means one individual will not enter Tiangong at all, or if the crew members will rotate this responsibility.

During the unmanned rehearsal for this mission, Shenzhou 8, flown late last year, the uncrewed craft performed a planned undocking, and re-docking, manoeuvre after 12 days, aimed to test accuracy and reliability of equipment and sensors. There has been no mention of the upcoming mission repeating this.

Otherwise, the crew are likely to carry out tests and experiments supporting long-term research into the challenges of living in space; a variety of astronomical, biological and Earth-resources experiments; and to test engineering technologies required to support the development of the space station ambitions.

Although occupation of Tiangong 1 places the Chinese programme at broadly the point that the Soviet Union and US were, in the mid-1970's with their early Salyut and Skylabs missions, the Chinese seem determined to build up their own body of research, development and engineering data, and to move their programme forward, based on their own experiences, and at their own pace.

Tony Quine is a long time observer of the Russian and Chinese manned space programmes and a regular author and contributor to both online and published media.

.


Related Links
China in Space
The Chinese Space Program - News, Policy and Technology
China News from SinoDaily.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








DRAGON SPACE
Why is China sending a woman into space?
Isle of Man UK (SPX) Jun 01, 2012
"China's first female astronauts have, trained hard and conscientiously, and are now ready to take part in the Shenzhou manned spaceflights. For all astronauts the implementation of a manned spaceflight is our primary duty. They are both now ready to accept selection, by the motherland, and the Chinese people, at any moment." This was according to Major General Fei Junlong, commander of the twen ... read more


DRAGON SPACE
UA Lunar-Mining Team Wins National Contest

NASA Lunar Spacecraft Complete Prime Mission Ahead of Schedule

NASA Offers Guidelines To Protect Historic Sites On The Moon

Neil Armstrong gives rare interview - to accountant

DRAGON SPACE
Wind may have driven avalanches on Martian dunes

On The Hunt For Light-Toned Veins Of Gypsum

Mars missions may learn from meteor Down Under

Waking Up with the Sun's Rays

DRAGON SPACE
New Moon for India

Boeing Completes Software PDR Of New Crew Ship

NASA hails 'new era' in exploration

CU astronaut-alumnus Scott Carpenter looks back at 50th anniversary of Aurora 7 mission

DRAGON SPACE
What will China's Taikonauts do aboard Tiangong 1?

Why is China sending a woman into space?

China launches telecommunication satellite

Tiangong 1 Ready To Meet Shenzhou 9

DRAGON SPACE
Capillarity in Space - Then and Now, 1962-2012

Dragon on board

SpaceX Launches Falcon 9 Dragon on Historic Mission

SpaceX Dragon Transports Student Experiments to Space Station

DRAGON SPACE
Sea Launch Delivers the Intelsat 19 Spacecraft into Orbit

SpaceX Dragon capsule splash lands in Pacific

US cargo ship on return voyage from space station

US cargo vessel prepares to leave space station

DRAGON SPACE
Tiny Planet-Finding Mirrors Borrow from Webb Telescope Playbook

Astronomers Probe 'Evaporating' Planet Around Nearby Star with Hobby-Eberly Telescope

Venus transit may boost hunt for other worlds

NSO To Use Venus Transit To Fine-Tune Search For Other Worlds

DRAGON SPACE
Microsoft links Xbox with smartphones, tablets

E3 to showcase big videogame titles, hot trends

Windows 8 to dominate Taiwan computer show

Commonly used painkillers may protect against skin cancer




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement