21 June 2021
Yuanwang 6 space-tracking ship returned to its homeport on 21 June after completing its telemetry, tracking and command (TT&C) tasks for the Tianzhou 2 cargo spacecraft and Shenzhou 12 manned spaceship missions. Yuanwang 6, China's 3rd-generation space-tracking ship, was at sea for 29 days, sailing more than 5,000 nautical miles for the two missions.
MORE...
21 June 2021
This week, Blaine Curcio and Jean Deville cover in bigger detail the Shenzhou 12 launch to the Tianhe core module of the prospective Chinese Space Station. They explain the technicalities of the crew space craft, the rocket and about the ingress process as well as the first moments of the taikonauts on board the Tianhe module. They then explain in good detail the ILRS (International Lunar Research Station) initiated by CNSA and Roscosmos and analyse the implications of that project.
MORE...
Link to the respective newsletter
16 June 2021
On 16 June, during the GLEX 2021 conference in St. Petersburg, CNSA and Roscosmos published a joint "Roadmap of International Lunar Research Station (V1.0)" and "Guide to International Lunar Research Station Partners (V1.0)"
link to ILRS promotion video on YouTube ... or on Roscosmos website ...
link to PDF of ILRS Guide for Partnership on Roscosmos website ...
19 June 2021
The Shenzhou 12 crew started to make themselves comfortable in their new home. As soon as the crew of three - Major General Nie Haisheng, Major General Liu Boming and Senior Colonel Tang Hongbo - floated into the Tianhe module on 17 June afternoon, they started to configure the electrolytic oxygen generators, install water tanks and arrange their sleeping quarters. After finishing these tasks, they enjoyed their first sleep on board. After they woke up on 18 June, Nie and his crew members started to unpack the Wi-Fi signal equipment and install and set the devices. Another task was to begin with unpacking the Tianzhou 2 cargo craft.
MORE...
18 June 2021
It is often forgotten that discussions about manned space missions started very early in China. ChinaDaily recapitulates the steps taken in the past leading to the today's success of sending taikonauts into space.
MORE...
19 June 2021
Currently, the Astronaut Centre of China in Beijing is training the 3rd group of Chinese astronauts. The 18 new taikonauts－17 men and one woman－are in 3 groups: 7 will become spacecraft pilots, another 7 will eventually be space flight engineers and the last 4 will become mission payload specialists, CMSA said.
They are undergoing systematic and sophisticated training before qualifying for space missions.
The selection for the 3rd-generation team began in May 2018 and wrapped up in September 2020, involving 3 rounds of tests. About 2,500 applicants participated in the process.
MORE...