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




DRAGON SPACE
Astronauts eye China's future space station
by Staff Writers
Beijing (XNA) Sep 16, 2014


China sent Tiangong-1, its first space lab and target spacecraft, into orbit in September 2011. It plans to send Tiangong-2 space lab into orbit, and around 2022 its first space station will be completed.

Astronauts from around the world have expressed interest in China's future space lab and station, hoping to cooperate with their Chinese counterparts on the Tiangong space station.

Meeting in Beijing for the 27th annual meeting of the non-governmental Association of Space Explorers (ASE), astronauts from Russia, the United States and other countries visited Beijing Space Flight City, one of China's major space science and technology facilities.

Dumitru Prunariu, president of ASE and Romania's first astronaut, said after visiting models of China's Tiangong-1 space lab and Shenzhou-10 spaceship that astronauts are interested due to their professional curiosity about Chinese space facilities.

"Now China will build its own space station in 2022. We heard with great interest that China is inviting the international community to be part of experiments on board the new space station," said Prunariu.

"We are glad that China [...] showed us so many things here and is so open to international cooperation," Prunariu said.

Prunariu added that further cooperation on manned space programs requires more support at the state level as well as agreements with China in economic and scientific cooperation.

China sent Tiangong-1, its first space lab and target spacecraft, into orbit in September 2011. It plans to send Tiangong-2 space lab into orbit, and around 2022 its first space station will be completed.

Zhou Jianping, chief engineer of China's manned space program, said in September 2013 that China is willing to provide platforms for experiments for countries and regions to peacefully use outer space, and foreign astronauts are expected to board China's space station.

"We are quite willing to cooperate with Chinese. In terms of the space station program, the two sides can cooperate in biology, space science and technology, life support systems and others," said Russian cosmonaut Sergei Avdeev, who spent over 748 days on the Mir Space Station.

Koichi Wakata, a Japanese veteran astronaut and the first Japanese commander of the International Space Station (ISS), said he has been following China's manned space program since Shenzhou-5, China's first manned space mission, which sent Yang Liwei into orbit in October 2003.

"I'm looking forward to flying to China's space station. Now I have to learn Chinese, although it is difficult," Wakata said.

Liu Yang, who became China's first female astronaut in June 2012, told Xinhua that many astronauts at the meeting expressed their interest in Tiangong, and some from Italy, Canada and other countries said they would like to learn Chinese in order to cooperate in the future.

Yang Liwei, now deputy head of China's Manned Space Agency, said Wednesday that China has reserved some platforms in its space station for cooperation with other countries. China has designed interfaces on its space modules so that they can dock with those of other countries.

Yang added that China's manned space program has cooperated internationally in recent years. China is open-minded and willing to exchange and cooperate with other countries on equipment design, astronaut training, joint missions, and other areas.

"The space station is an interesting place where crew members with different origins and cultures work together because we have the same interests and passion for space exploration," said American astronaut Pamela Ann Melroy, who commanded a mission on space shuttle Discovery, which docked with ISS in 2007.

"In space you have a total perspective. When you see that Earth is below you, and mankind is tiny in a big universe, cooperation is a natural thing to do," Melroy added.

.


Related Links
Association of Space Explorers (ASE)
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
China eyes working with other nations as station plans develop
Beijing (SPX) Sep 12, 2014
China is open to cooperation with foreign nations on its manned space station project, according to a senior space official. "We reserved a number of platforms that can be used for international cooperative projects in our future space station when we designed it," Yang Liwei, deputy director of China Manned Space Agency, said at a news conference following the opening ceremony of the 27th ... read more


DRAGON SPACE
Year's final supermoon is a Harvest Moon

China Aims for the Moon, Plans to Bring Back Lunar Soil

Electric Sparks May Alter Evolution of Lunar Soil

China to test recoverable moon orbiter

DRAGON SPACE
Martian meteorite yields more evidence of the possibility of life on Mars

MAVEN on course for Mars Arrival Sept 21

Flash-Memory Reformat Successful

NASA's Mars Curiosity rover reaches 'far frontier'

DRAGON SPACE
Space: China's final tourism frontier

NASA Chooses American Companies to Transport US Astronauts to ISS

The long descent

NASA's Orion Spacecraft Nears Completion, Ready for Fueling

DRAGON SPACE
China eyes working with other nations as station plans develop

Astronauts eye China's future space station

China completes construction of advanced space launch facility

China to launch second space lab in 2016: official

DRAGON SPACE
CASIS Research Set for Launch Aboard SpaceX Mission to ISS

SpaceX To Deliver Science Experiments To ISS For Ames

Boeing, SpaceX to send astronauts to space station

4th SpaceX Cargo Mission to ISS Dragon Scheduled for Sep 20

DRAGON SPACE
NASA's Wind-Watching ISS-RapidScat Ready for Launch

Elon Musk gets fresh challenge with space contract

Proton Launches May Compete on Price With US Falcons

SpaceX's next cargo launch set for Sept 20

DRAGON SPACE
Solar System Simulation Reveals Planetary Mystery

Chandra Finds Planet That Makes Star Act Deceptively Old

'Hot Jupiters' provoke their own host suns to wobble

First evidence for water ice clouds found outside solar system

DRAGON SPACE
NASA Awards Cross-track Infrared Sounder For JPS System-2 Bird

Not just cool - it's a gas

Microsoft powers up game platform with 'Minecraft'

Researchers control surface tension to manipulate liquid metals




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news 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 All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.