Like Mir and the International Space Station before it, the Chinese station will also be built from components that will be launched separately
Haim Mazar
China is the third country to build its own space station, starting in 2020, if its plans come true. It was preceded by space stations of Russia/the Soviet Union and the United States. The space station operating today is international and was established by the United States, Russia, Japan and the European Space Agency. The Russian Mir launch station and the International Space Station were built on a modular basis. Each time one unit was launched and all the units were connected to one large complex. This is how the Chinese space station will also be built. First the base unit will be launched and it weighs 20-25 tons. Two additional units of similar weight to the weight of this unit will be connected to it. For this purpose, a launcher capable of launching payloads of this size is designed. Launcher name 5 Long March.
After several postponements, the small space station weighing 29 tons and named Tiangong 2011 was launched on September 8.5, 1 within the launch capabilities of the launchers currently in China's hands. The Long March 2F/C launcher is intended to test engineering and technological capabilities that will be ready by 2020. Upon launch, the space station entered a parking orbit around the Earth. After two orbits, the space station was placed in a circular orbit that is 350 km from the ground. During its flight, three spacecraft connected to it, Shenzhou 8 when it was unmanned and then two manned spacecraft Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10 connected to it. During the month of October, in preparation for the connection with the unmanned spacecraft, the orbit of the space station was changed to 343 km, and on October 30, the space station rotated 180 degrees in preparation for docking. Two days after the launch of Shenzhou 8, the two spacecraft stuck together and remained so for 12 days.
The manned flights lasted less than two weeks each, much less than the Soyuz spacecraft that were launched to the Soliot space stations. Except for a few cases, the Soyuz spacecraft were attached to the Soliot for several months, and that was also the duration of the astronauts' stay in the Soliot. The total amount of information that the Chinese gave to the media was less than that of the Russians during the Cold War. The bulk of the information provided by the Chinese is in a few published photographs. An intelligent analysis of them makes it possible to know more details about the space station.
Space station structure
The length of the space station is 10.4 meters and it is made of two parts - the front part is the working compartment where the astronauts work and the second part, the back, is the bathroom compartment, where the main engine, navigation engines and sun racks are located. The diameter of the working compartment is 3.35 meters and that of the toilet compartment is slightly smaller than that. In this respect it resembles the Russian space station Soliot. Soliot's lavatory was on the back side of the space station and was actually the lavatory of the Soyuz spacecraft. In the future, supply spacecraft will be built based on these space stations. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the station engine is larger than that of the Shenzhou spaceships. On the side near the end of the lavatory cabin are clusters of navigation cabins at intervals of 90 degrees from each other. In the front of the work cell there are also 4 clusters of navigation cells at intervals of 90 degrees from each other.
At the front of the navigation cabin is the attachment mechanism and it is similar to the one used by the joint flight plan between the Soyuz and Apollo spacecraft. This means that both the Chinese space station and the spacecraft that docked with it could be active or passive prior to docking. The attachment can be done automatically or manually. The work chamber is spacious and there are no instruments in the middle like in the Russian space stations Soliot and Mir. In one of the photographs of the Tiangong, one of the astronauts is seen pedaling, which means that this bicycle is folded in one of the compartments on the side of the space station. In Soliot, the control mechanism of the space station is all the essential instruments for flight control and it is installed in a kind of cabinet across the space station under the entrance to the tunnel connecting with the Soyuz spacecraft. This mechanism is not present on the Chinese space station, which means that it is installed on the side of the space station. The sides themselves are painted in soft colors which creates a comfortable atmosphere, which in itself is of great psychological importance. Straps are attached to the floor of the space station, into which the astronauts thread their legs when they want to stabilize themselves while working. On each side of the station there is a personal booth on the side of the station. In both, two astronauts sleep, the third sleeps in the spaceship. This arrangement is intended for emergencies in which the astronauts must evacuate the spacecraft and return to Israel. In extreme situations, it is possible to guarantee that at least one astronaut will return to Israel. This arrangement is reminiscent of the placement of the astronauts in the Apollo spaceships. In these flights, two astronauts landed on each flight and the third remained in the spaceship that was orbiting the moon at the time.
In terms of the equipment installed in the space station, it was reported that there are two telescopes installed in close proximity to each other and they are directed towards the Earth. One has a wide shooting angle and the other has a narrow shooting angle. They shoot at different wavelengths. The space station has a facility for growing crystals and a device for the detection and analysis of energetic particles. The chemistry and physics of the atmosphere and atmospheric disturbances are also examined. The space station also had an experimental water recycling facility.
Necessary medical equipment. It is likely that the astronauts took blood samples from one of the two and these were returned to Earth. Urine and feces samples were also brought to Israel. Blood pressure, pulse and EKG tests were also performed. Were these tests done every day" nothing was said about that. It is likely that tests were done before, during and after pedaling. On the sides of the station are refrigerators for storing food and water and also a small heating device for heating food and drinks. Due to the dimensions of the space station, it is impossible to install a shower and the astronauts used wet wipes. Were these also brought back to Israel or were they put in garbage compartments in the orbital compartment, which before landing was disconnected from the command cabin and burned up in the atmosphere?
The spacecraft launched to the space station
The first spacecraft launched to the space station is 8 Shenzhou. The launcher 8Y – 2F CZ – . As noted she was not staffed. The launch was on October 31, 2011. After a series of maneuvers that lasted 41 hours, the spacecraft docked with the space station on November 2, 2011. They were docked for 10 days and 20 hours. On November 3, the spacecraft disconnected from the space station for a distance of 5 km and an hour later connected to it. On November 14, another disconnection and connection maneuver was made. During this flight, various tests were conducted, including flight control of the two space vehicles and also experiments for the European Space Agency. On November 16, the spacecraft was detached from the space station and returned to Earth. After disconnection, the space station returned to the original flight altitude 400 km above the ground.
On June 16, 2012, Shenzhou 9 was launched. The launcher was 3 Long March. The duration of the stay in space was 13 days. For 40 hours from the moment the spacecraft was launched, it performed a series of maneuvers until its first connection with the space station on June 18. The astronauts who participated in the flight were Jing Haipeng, who was on his second flight, Liu Vang and Yang Liu, the first Chinese astronaut to be launched into space. The supervision of the adhesion between the spacecraft and the space station is done entirely from Earth. The work plan included manual disconnection and connection between the two space vehicles. The transition from the spacecraft to the space station was made 3 hours after docking. The route is 355-366 km and the inclination angle is 42.8 degrees. On October 15, the flight route was changed to 346-353 km. That day the route was changed again to 357-374 km.
During their stay at the space station, the astronauts performed scientific and technological experiments. In their free time they watched DVD movies, listened to music and sent emails to their families. The experimental water recycling facility was not used. On June 24, the spacecraft disconnected from the space station and connected to it. On June 29, the entire complex rotated 180 degrees. Before the separation, the space station and the spacecraft moved 5 km away from each other and then connected. On June 29, a disconnection and connection exercise was held again. The disconnection was manual and the connection was automatic. In the same more astronauts where I will land. They spent a total of 12 days, 15 hours and 36 minutes in space.
On June 11, 2013, 10 Shenzhou was launched. The launcher was 2F Long March and the connection to the space station was on June 13, 2013. The astronauts' stay in space was 15 days. Landing on June 26, the weight of the spacecraft is 8.5 tons. A few hours after the launch, the spacecraft's engines were activated and moved it into a circular orbit that allowed it to stick to the space station. The flight path was 336 km. There were three astronauts in the team and they are Nie Haisheng the flight commander, Wang Yapis and the astronaut Shang Xiaogoug. The purpose of the flight was to gain experience for the construction of a large space station. The spacecraft had an addition of supplies that allowed the astronauts to stay longer than their predecessors. Unlike the first team, the members of this team could sleep at the same time. According to the announcements to the media, minor repairs were made to the space station. For example, the floor of the space station was replaced with a harder floor than before, so that it was more comfortable for the astronauts to work on. One of the broadcasts to Israel was a science lesson for school students. The spacecraft disconnected and reconnected with the space station several times, during which the spacecraft circled it.
cargo spaceship
The Chinese are working on the lure of a supply spacecraft and in 2016 it will be launched to the 2Tiangong space station. The supply spacecraft is a derivative of the space station and can carry a load of 13 tons. The name of the supply spacecraft is Tianzhou.
The nearest space stations.
In March 2011 it was reported that the 2Tiangong space station will be launched before 2016 and it will be experimental in nature. In September 2011 it was announced that the launch would be in 2014. From this announcement it can be learned that the pace of development was faster than expected and in September of that year it was announced that the launch would be in 2015. The launcher F/G .Long March. Only one team will be sent to it. There will also be a tie-up with a supply spacecraft. Since the space station has one attachment opening connecting with the supply spacecraft, this attachment is intended for various engineering and technical tests, among other things, examination of equipment for water and oxygen circulation. In 2015 or 2016, 3 Tiangong will be launched. This space station will have two crew attachment hatches. The space station is similar to the Russian space station Soliot. Its length is 18.1 meters and its maximum width is 4.2 meters. One team can stay there for 40 days. It will have two attachment openings and several spaceships will be able to connect to it at the same time. The front attachment port is spherical so that several spacecraft can connect to it. At the front of the space station is installed an arm similar to the one found in Soliot and it can move a spacecraft from one attachment port to another attachment port.
The big space station
The construction of this space station will begin in 2018 with the launch of the base unit and it will end in 2022. The length of the base unit is 18.1 meters, the maximum diameter is 4.2 meters and it weighs 20-22 tons. In front of it is a spherical attachment unit and two more units of the space station will be connected to it. The length of each of them is 14.4 meters. The total weight of the space station is about 60 tons. In the back of the space station there is an attachment opening that will be used to connect supply spacecraft.
