Nation's space program sees new age of achievement
2022-01-10 China Daily Editor：Li Yan
The Tianhe core module lifts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province atop a Long March 5B heavy-lift carrier rocket on April 29. (JIN LIWANG/XINHUA)
In the past 12 months, scientists have landed a rover on Mars and moved closer to completion of an orbiting laboratory.
China's space industry made several remarkable accomplishments last year.
The highlights were a massive space station, which is now orbiting Earth, and a rover that landed on Mars in a historic interplanetary adventure for the nation.
The country embarked on its ambitious space station program in late April－after decades of preparations and about three years of delays caused by rocket malfunctions. The aim was to complete an engineering marvel before the end of the year.
On April 29, the first, and central, component of the Tiangong space station－the Tianhe core module－lifted off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province atop a Long March 5B heavy-lift carrier rocket.
The biggest and heaviest spacecraft China has ever constructed, Tianhe is 16.6 meters long and 4.2 meters in diameter. At 22.5 metric tons, the craft equals the combined weight of 15 standard-sized automobiles. It has three parts: a connecting section; a life-support and control section; and a resources section.
The module is Tiangong's most important element, given that astronauts will live there for long periods and control the entire station from inside. It is also the station's main platform for scientific experiments and technological tests.
When completed, by the end of this year, Tiangong will consist of three main components－a core module attached to two space labs－with a total weight of nearly 70 tons.
The station will operate for about 15 years in a low-Earth orbit, about 400 kilometers above the planet.
Members of the crew of Shenzhou XIII return to the module after a spacewalk on Dec 27. (GUO ZHONGZHENG/XINHUA)
Yang Hong, the module's chief designer at the China Academy of Space Technology, said Tianhe is designed to accommodate long-term visits and support spacewalks, which will be essential for assembly of the station, assessments of its external integrity and repair of broken parts.
The astronauts' living and working space is about 50 cubic meters, much larger than that of previous Chinese manned spacecraft. Once the space station is completed, the occupants will have as much as 110 cu m of usable space, Yang said.
By comparison, the usable space in a crewed spaceship in the Shenzhou series is about 7 cu m.
Zhang Hao, a senior designer at the academy who took part in the module's development, said that compared with previous Chinese manned spaceships, the module features better living conditions.
"There are separate quarters for working, sleeping, personal hygiene, dining, healthcare and physical exercise," he said.
"Each astronaut has their own bed and they share a dedicated washroom, the first to feature on a Chinese spacecraft. We installed many appliances to make the stay easier, such as an air conditioner, microwave oven, refrigerator and water dispenser, as well as a treadmill."
Each astronaut has a specially designed smartphone capable of not only making calls between the crew and people on the ground, but also of remotely controlling the capsule's internal equipment, he added.
A see-off ceremony for three Chinese astronauts of the Shenzhou XII manned space mission is held at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China, June 17, 2021. (Photo by Su Dong/for chinadaily.com.cn)
First occupants
In mid-June, the Shenzhou XII spacecraft, carrying a three-strong crew－Major General Nie Haisheng, Major General Liu Boming and Senior Colonel Tang Hongbo－was launched by a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert in Northwest China.
The craft docked with Tianhe just hours after reaching the module's orbit and the crew quickly entered the facility, becoming the first occupants of the Tiangong space station.
During the crew's 90-day stay, they verified plans and equipment designed for long-term spaceflight, performed a number of scientific experiments and technological tests, and made two spacewalks to use a large robotic arm and other apparatus to install and adjust equipment outside the station.
They also made video calls with President Xi Jinping and hundreds of researchers, teachers and students in Hong Kong.
The Shenzhou XII crew finished their 92-day mission in mid-September and then returned to Earth.
Astronauts (from left) Ye Guangfu, Zhai Zhigang and Wang Yaping, the crew of Shenzhou XIII, wave during a video from the Tianhe core module in October. (TIAN DINGYU/XINHUA)
Tiangong is now occupied by the crew of Shenzhou XIII－Major General Zhai Zhigang, Senior Colonel Wang Yaping and Senior Colonel Ye Guangfu－who arrived at the station in mid-October and are scheduled to stay there for six months.
In their first spacewalk in November, Wang became China's first female spacewalker. The 41-year-old performed extravehicular operations that lasted six and a half hours along with mission commander Zhai.
Last month, the astronauts gave a space-based science lecture to tens of millions of primary and middle school students nationwide. They also made their second spacewalk.
According to the schedule of the China Manned Space Agency, the crew will finish their tenure around mid-April and then return to Earth.
To continue construction of the Tiangong station, two large space labs will be launched this year to connect with the module. Moreover, the Shenzhou XIV and XV manned missions and two robotic cargo flights will also be undertaken and will dock with Tianhe, carrying astronauts for shifts and ferrying supplies and mission payloads.
Following the Shenzhou XIII mission, Tiangong will be manned regularly by three-strong groups of astronauts in six-month shifts.
During handovers to new groups, the station will accommodate as many as six astronauts.
Hao Chun, director of the China Manned Space Agency, said his team's goal is to ensure that the best use will be made of the station to advance space science, technology and applications.
Scientists are using the facility's unique environment to conduct breeding experiments, produce special medicines and create new materials, thus generating scientific, technological and economic benefits, he added.
He also said that China is open to cooperation with foreign nations in the space station project, adding that after the Tiangong station starts formal operations, there will be more than 20 cabinets onboard reserved for international-standard scientific instruments.
Moreover, Hao said foreign astronauts will definitely work on the station.
Tianwen 1 has completed the scheduled tasks for the world's 46th Mars exploration mission, but the Zhurong rover continues to work on the planet's surface. (XINHUA)
Martian journey
After deploying a robot on the far side of the moon and bringing fresh lunar soil back to Earth, China achieved its newest feat in deep-space exploration by placing a rover on Mars.
On May 15, Zhurong, named after a Chinese god of fire, was released from the Tianwen 1 robotic probe and pierced the Martian atmosphere in an extremely risky landing procedure.
It quickly touched down safely on the southern part of Utopia Planitia, a large plain on the Red Planet.
On May 22, Zhurong left its landing platform and traveled on the Martian soil, becoming the sixth rover on Mars, following five predecessors from the United States.
The 1.85-meter-high, 240-kilogram rover has now worked on the Martian surface for more than seven months－far outliving its three-month life expectancy.
It has traveled more than 1.4 km and transmitted a number of video clips and photos taken en route for its destination, an ancient coastal area on Utopia Planitia.
Tianwen 1, the nation's first interplanetary exploration endeavor, was launched on July 23, 2020, from the Wenchang launch center.
It was the world's 46th Mars exploration mission since October 1960, when the former Soviet Union launched the first Mars-bound, albeit unsuccessful, spacecraft.
The Chinese craft consisted of two major components－the Zhurong rover and an orbiter. It traveled more than 470 million km and carried out several maneuvers before entering Martian orbit on Feb 10 last year.
Before releasing Zhurong for its landing, the Tianwen 1 probe circled Mars for more than three months, mainly to collect information about the rover's planned landing site for ground controllers to analyze and make decisions.
There are three operational rovers on the Red Planet－Curiosity and Perseverance of the US and China's Zhurong.
In the Martian skies, the Tianwen 1 orbiter is traveling in an orbit to conduct remote-sensing and signal-relay operations.
The mission has obtained nearly 540 gigabytes of data and transmitted them back to Earth, according to mission controllers at the China National Space Administration.
They added that the rover and orbiter have plentiful energy resources and are in good condition.
A photo sent back to earth by Tianwen 1 on Jan 1. (XINHUA)
Aiming at the sun
Following the moon and Mars, China has set its exploratory sights on the sun, the core of our solar system.
In mid-October, the country launched its first solar observation satellite, aiming to deepen scientists' knowledge of the star.
The 508-kg Chinese H-Alpha Solar Explorer satellite was launched by a Long March 2D rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province, before entering a sun-synchronous orbit, about 517 km above Earth.
The mission is expected to provide scientists with the first high-quality observation data of the source area of a solar eruption and will improve China's research capability in solar physics, according to program officials at the administration.
Wang Wei, the satellite's project manager, said it is China's first space-based solar telescope and is designed to work for at least three years.
"Scientifically speaking, the H-alpha imaging spectrograph on the satellite is able to observe and record changes in the sun's physical elements, such as temperature and speed, facilitating scientists' studies of dynamics and physics during a solar eruption," he said.
Zhao Jian, a senior official in charge of the satellite program, said it is important to study the sun because solar activities have many effects on life on Earth.
Studying the sun also allows scientists to deepen their research on the origins and evolution of celestial magnetic fields, the acceleration and distribution of energetic particles and other physical phenomena, he said.
