Shenzhou-10 docking mission successful

By Liu Yang in Jiuquan and Liu Sha in Beijing Source:Global Times Published: 2013-6-14 0:18:01

This image cropped from a video clip shows three Chinese astronauts, Wang Yaping (left), Nie Haisheng (center) and Zhang Xiaoguang, float from the Shenzhou-10 spaceship into the module Tiangong-1 Thursday afternoon after the successful docking. Photo: CFP

This image cropped from a video clip shows three Chinese astronauts, Wang Yaping (left), Nie Haisheng (center) and Zhang Xiaoguang, float from the Shenzhou-10 spaceship into the module Tiangong-1 Thursday afternoon after the successful docking. Photo: CFP

 

China's Shenzhou-10 manned spacecraft successfully completed an automated docking with the orbiting Tiangong-1 space module at 1:18 pm Thursday.

The country's fifth manned spacecraft, which was launched Tuesday afternoon from Jiuquan, Northwest China's Gobi desert, began to approach the space module automatically at 10:48 am Thursday. It then made contact with it at 1:11 pm and completed the first docking procedure.

Nie Haisheng, Zhang Xiaoguang and Wang Yaping, the three astronauts aboard, entered the module and opened the hatch of Tiangong-1 at 4:17 pm, said the Beijing Aerospace Control Center.

As scheduled, the astronauts would carry out scientific and technical experiments as well as give a lecture to students, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Wu Ping, spokeswoman for the manned space program, said earlier that there would be two docking procedures, one automatic and one manual, but she did not give details of how long the interval would last.

The docking procedure was the fifth to take place between the Shenzhou craft and the space module.

A Global Times reporter in Jiuquan learned that in an effort to prepare for the space station that China plans to build in 2020, more research will be carried out into a rapid rendezvous scheme, a procedure in which a spaceship takes only six hours to dock with the target orbiter and which has been applied by the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

The current docking technology takes two days, while the fast scheme will reduce the astronauts' feeling of weightlessness and also help build the space station, which will require several ships carrying both supplies and astronauts.

After the mission, the Tiangong-2 and cargo ships will also be launched in two years from now, people.com.cn reported.

The cargo ship, which can carry 6 tons of goods once, will be efficient in providing necessary fuel, food and other supplies for the future space station, said Zha Xuelei, its deputy designer.

Meanwhile, the new launch center in Hainan Province, the country's fourth, will also be used by the program.

The Shenzhou-10 is also likely to conduct a flight around the Tiangong-1 depending on its condition, said Wu. It is a task that will help the space program team get more familiar with how a spaceship finds the interface for docking, as they may not be in the same orbit.

Meanwhile, various measures have been adopted to increase the safety and comfort of astronauts in terms of food and work flow, the Global Times reporter learned.

The Tiangong-1 space lab, which has been in orbit for about 620 days, will remain in service for another three months.



Posted in: Air & Space

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