China lays out Aggressive five-year space plans

In a white paper outlining its ambitious space programme's five-year plan, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said the Long March-5 rockets "will use non-toxic and pollution-free propellant".

Speaking at press briefing outlining the paper, CNSA spokesman Zhang Wei said the rockets would be capable of placing 25-tonne payloads into near-Earth orbit.

China holds up its space programme as a symbol of the nation's growing global stature and technical expertise, and of the ruling Communist Party's success in turning around the fortunes of the once poverty-stricken nation.

Morris Jones, an independent space expert based in Sydney, told AFP the announcement was significant.

"It's impressive that China's reached that stage with this next round of heavy-lift vehicles, so crucial to reaching their goal of building a space station by 2020," he said.

China's space agency said previously announced plans would go ahead over the next five years, among them establishing a launch pad on the southern island of Hainan, launching lunar orbiters and probes and researching a manned moon landing.

The white paper offered no timetable for plans to launch and dock the Shenzhou IX and X rockets onto China's Tiangong-1 experimental space module in 2012. At least one of these rockets is expected to be manned.

In November, the unmanned Shenzhou VIII spacecraft returned to Earth after completing two space dockings with Tiangong-1 in the nation's first ever hard-to-master "space kiss", bringing together two vessels in high speed orbit.

Appearing to try to allay international concerns about China's potential militarisation of space, the agency said China wanted to "utilise outer space for peaceful purposes" -- a claim Morris disputed.

"No nation that has a respectable major space programme has an entirely peaceful programme," he said, noting China had tested anti-satellite weapons by blowing up one of its own in 2007.

"The world over, space technologies are used for military communications and to deploy spy satellites. China's no different," Jones said.

Shenzhou 8: Photos From China's 1st Space Docking Mission

Tiangong-1-Shenzhou-8 Docking. Chinese TV shows the Tiangong 1 module docking with the Shenzhou 8 spacecraft Nov. 2, 2011

Credit: CNTV/CCTV

 A view of China's Tiangong 1 space lab module taken by the approaching Shenzhou 8 spacecraft, just minutes before the two vessels docked in Earth orbit.
CREDIT: CCTV

China's Preparation: China Tiangong 1 Shenzhou 8 Docking

Photo of the Shenzhou 8 spacecraft undergoing testing earlier in 2011.

CREDIT: China Manned Space Engineering Office.

China will launch an unmanned spacecraft in November to make the country's first in-space docking, state media reported.

The Shenzhou 8 mission is set to launch early next month Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

The spacecraft is due to dock with the robotic Tiangong-1 module, which was launched separately in September.

That craft is a prototype space lab, part of China's long-term goal of building its own manned space station in orbit.

The Tiangong 1-Shenzhou 8 maneuver will be China's first spacecraft docking. It's a necessary step toward assembling a larger space station.

Read more at www.cmse.gov.cn

No Toilet for Tiangong - China Spacestation

We're getting closer to the launch of China's Tiangong 1 space laboratory.

We've seen video footage and artwork of the exterior of this vehicle, but so far, information on Tiangong's interior has been scarce.

We don't know exactly what lies inside Tiangong, but we can take some educated guesses.

Tiangong is a small spacecraft, and its interior fixtures allow little room for unnecessary items.

This leads this author to reach one conclusion. There's probably no toilet on Tiangong.

Astronauts who visit the Tiangong 1 laboratory will travel aboard Shenzhou spacecraft, which are roughly the same size as the Tiangong module itself.

The Shenzhou spacecraft has enough room for three astronauts, along with all the equipment needed to keep them alive and functioning. Two Shenzhou spacecraft are expected to carry crews to Tiangong 1.

These will be Shenzhous 9 and 10, expected to fly in 2012.

During an astronaut visit to Tiangong, the Shenzhou spacecraft will remain docked to the laboratory. The astronauts will also use this spacecraft for their return to Earth.

Shenzhou carries simple toilet facilities, as well as food preparation equipment and stores. These will all be within easy reach of the astronauts during their mission.

Given this fact, it seems reasonable to assume that the toilet, as well as some of the food preparation gear, will not be replicated on Tiangong.

This will allow more space for experiments and other gear on board Tiangong itself. It also helps to solve a hygiene problem. Toilet and food preparation gear can be cleaned and emptied, but they still remain potential sources of odours and bacteria.

Leaving this type of gear on board the laboratory for an extended period could be messy for subsequent crews who visit the laboratory. If the toilet and kitchen are both replaced when each mission flies, then the gear should be kept relatively clean.

There's also another good reason for flying a fresh toilet with each crew. It minimizes the chance that the gear will break down. A broken toilet on board a cramped spacecraft would be a serious nuisance, as astronauts who have lived with the problem can attest.

Given the relatively small size of the Tiangong laboratory, it is probable that the astronauts will work inside it, but still spend much of their flight inside their own Shenzhou spacecraft.

This will not only allow them to use the facilities on board Shenzhou, but give them extra personal space. Shenzhou will offer more than a bathroom and kitchen. It will probably also serve as a bedroom.

Overall, the combined space aboard Shenzhou and Tiangong will not be large, but there will still be more personal space per crewmember than many other space missions. The astronauts themselves should also be fairly comfortable with the facilities and the food.

Tiangong 1 Module: China to attempt first space rendezvous

China will attempt its first space docking between two unmanned vehicles this year, the first step in efforts to build a Chinese space station, a senior official said Friday.

Yang Liwei detailed the next stages of China's human spaceflight programme during a press visit to Space City in Beijing, a research and training centre normally closed to the public.

"Our next goal is to realise a space docking of two vehicles during the second half of 2011," said Yang, whose journey into space in 2003 made him the first Chinese astronaut.

The manoeuvre will involve the Tiangong 1 module and the Shenzhou 8 rocket, said Yang, confirming an announcement made last October.

Tiangong means "Celestial Palace" and the eight-tonne orbiter is on a two-year mission that will see it rendezvous in 2012 with the Shenzhou 9 and 10 rockets, both of which will have astronauts on board.

Before 2016, China will launch a space laboratory and, Yang said, "around 2020, we plan to realise the construction of a space station in orbit for long-term stays in space".

China's space station will be made up of a core module, two laboratories, a cargo ship and a manned rocket, with a total weight of 60 tonnes, compared with 137 tonnes for the Russian station Mir and 419 tonnes for the International Space Station (ISS), the China Daily reported this week.

"China would like to cooperate with other countries" on the peaceful use of space, said Yang, who holds the rank of major general in the Chinese army, which runs the country's manned space flight programme.

Asked about Chinese plans to send men to the moon, he said: "The Chinese have no specific lunar mission now," but added that such a project was under consideration.

"I really experienced the prestige that space can bring to a country," he said.

The history of the spacesuit

Is this an early example of the evolution of the mobile phone. It certainly reminds me of some of the Motorola models that I used to sport as a keen young executive about town. No, its some early and cumbersome, spacesuit models. These have certainly developed and improved over the years, thankfully for the astronauts. Here we show you the evolution and history of the spacesuit.


Astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, is shown here in NASA's first spacesuit, designed for the Mercury programme (1958-1963).

The suits were adapted from US Navy pressure suits for high-altitude flights and not designed to be worn on spacewalks. That's because the suits folded in on themselves at the joints, decreasing the volume in the suit. That increased the pressure in the rest of the suit, making it hard for astronauts to bend their legs or arms. As a result, the suits were used only as protection against emergency losses of pressure. (Image: NASA Headquarters)


Spacesuit design took a step forward during NASA's Gemini programme, which featured the agency's first spacewalk on 3 June 1965. To insulate astronauts from the low pressures and temperature extremes of space, Gemini suits boasted extra layers and balloon-like "bladders" filled with gas to maintain pressure, while also maintaining flexibility.

Gus Grissom (left) and John Young, the crew of the first manned Gemini mission, a five-hour orbital flight on 23 March 1965, are shown here in the suits, which are attached to portable air conditioners to keep the astronauts cool. (Image: NASA Johnson Space Center)

The acid test for the Gemini spacesuit came on 3 June 1965, when astronaut Edward White ventured from the capsule for a 23-minute spacewalk - the first such foray for a US astronaut.

White used a gas-powered gun to manoeuvre in space. Oxygen was provided through an 8-metre 'umbilical' cord connected to the Gemini 4 spacecraft. (Image: NASA Johnson Space Center)


To allow lunar explorers greater flexibility, the Apollo suits were built with bellow-like rubber joints at the shoulders, hips, elbows and knees.

Here engineer Bill Peterson fits test pilot Bob Smyth in an early incarnation of the Apollo suit in 1964. The dark straps are part of a restraint harness for the Lunar Excursion Module. (Image: NASA Johnson Space Center)


By the time of the first Moon landing in 1969, the Apollo suits boasted a backpack that provided enough oxygen for breathing, ventilation and suit pressure for 7 hours of Moon walking. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin is pictured here exploring the lunar surface during the Apollo 11 mission. Although the suits performed well in the six missions to land on the Moon, lunar dust became a worry. Astronauts reported that sharp, abrasive lunar dust damaged the suits, wearing through layers and infiltrating seals.

The Apollo suit had to be relatively light so that astronauts could move around in the Moon's gravity and weighed about 82 kg (180 pounds), including its backpack. Later space shuttle suits, by comparison, were more than 1.5 times as heavy - but they were worn in the weightless environment of low-Earth orbit. (Image: NASA Kennedy Space Center)

NASA astronauts now use a two-piece spacesuit for spacewalks called the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU). Unlike the Apollo suits, which were custom-made to fit each astronaut, the EMU has interchangeable parts that can be used to accommodate a range of body sizes.

The EMU is pressurised at about a third of atmospheric pressure, so astronauts must camp out in a relatively low-pressure airlock before spacewalks to remove nitrogen dissolved in the blood and tissues. Moving too quickly to lower pressures can cause that nitrogen gas to create bubbles and obstruct blood flow, which can sometimes be fatal. The suit can weigh about 180 kg (400 lb) and operate for about 8 hours in space. It has a lifetime of 30 years. (Image: NASA Johnson Space Center)

NASA's EMU suits are not the only gear used for spacewalks. Here, astronaut Mike Fincke wears a Russian Orlan suit while performing work outside the International Space Station during the six-month Expedition 9 mission in 2004. (He and cosmonaut Gennady Padalka were originally going to use US suits but discovered problems with the suits, including a failed cooling unit.)

Unlike NASA's EMU suits, which have separate pants and torso sections, Orlan suits are entered through a hatch at the back. That allows astronauts to get into and out of them quickly without assistance. The suit weighs nearly 110 kg (240 pounds), can spend 7 hours in space and is designed to last for 12 spacewalks. (Image: NASA)

China's Feitan suit had a public debut in September 2008, when one of the astronauts aboard the Shenzhou 7 performed the country's first spacewalk.

The spacesuit is reportedly modelled after Russia's Orlan suit. Here one of the Shenzhou 7 crew members emerges from the spacecraft after landing in north China. (Image: China National Space Administration)

Gloves are possibly the most important part of the spacesuit from an astronaut's perspective. In addition to cranking levers and handling power drills, astronauts use their hands - rather than their feet - as their primary mode of "walking" around their spacecraft during spacewalks. The gloves are pressurised, making it difficult for astronauts to move their fingers.

The Apollo spacesuits used two sets of gloves - an inner layer (left) consisting of cloth-covered pressure bladders, and an outer layer made of cloth, Mylar and a metallic mesh. The outer gloves were used on spacewalks to protect against micrometeorites, scratches and heat. (Image: NASA-JSC)

In May 2007, engineer Peter Homer of Southwest Harbor, Maine, won $200,000 when his design for a spacesuit glove beat NASA's in an agency-sponsored competition. His company, Flagsuit LLC, is building on that design and is working with the firm Orbital Outfitters on spacesuits for suborbital tourist trips.

Homer says that unlike current gloves, which are pleated in a way that causes the fingers to curve like a banana, his gloves bend at the same points where our fingers do. That makes it easier for astronauts to move their fingers - important since spacewalks are so labour-intensive that they often leave astronauts' hands bruised and their fingernails bent backwards. (Image: Flagsuit.com)

For decades, NASA has been working intermittently on a next-generation spacesuit that will offer more flexibility and could be used at higher pressures, to eliminate the need for camping out before spacewalks, or breathing in pure oxygen to avoid decompression sickness, or the bends. The Mark III suit (left), one prototype that began development in the late 1980s, boasts a rear-entry system and bearings at the joints to allow astronauts the ability to kneel and perform other tasks.

In the push to return to the Moon, NASA signed a contract in February 2009 with the firm Oceaneering International, Inc, to develop suits for the crew of the shuttle's replacement, the Orion capsule, which is set to fly as early as 2015. Long-time spacesuit developer Hamilton Sundstrand contested the award, but the two firms now plan to work together on the suits, which are intended to share components with a future suit to be designed for the Moon (right). (Image and illustration: NASA)

So far, suits for spacewalks and moonwalks have had to rely on air to maintain pressure around an astronaut's body. But space farers might be able to wear a slimmer design in the future that could allow them to move more freely. This "Biosuit", developed by MIT engineer Dava Newman and colleagues, uses tight layers of material to maintain pressure.

The suit is patterned with stiff lines that do not extend when an astronaut moves a part of their body. These "lines of non-extension" provide a stiff skeleton but do not restrict an astronaut's movement. The team expects it will take several more years of development before the suits can be used in space. Other researchers are developing high-tech spacesuit materials that could one day heal themselves, generate electricity and kill germs. (Image: Donna Coveney)