Category Archives: Space Station

Three Chinese astronauts recently arrived at the countrys new space station in another step forward for the growing space power.

Here is a look at some of the space stations major goals.

What is the trips purpose?

The three-member crew will stay for three months in the stations main living space, called a module. The module is named Tianhe, which means Harmony of the Heavens in Chinese. The astronauts will carry out science experiments and perform maintenance. They also plan to complete space walks and prepare the station to receive two other modules next year.

While China admits it arrived late to the space station game, it says its new station is modern and includes the latest space technology. Tianhe might even outlast the International Space Station (ISS), which is nearing the end of its operational lifespan.

The recent launch brought back Chinas crewed space program after a five-year break. China has now sent 14 astronauts into space since its first launch in 2003. It is the third country after the former Soviet Union and the United States to do so.

Why is it building the station?

As its economy experienced growth in the 1990s, China made a plan for space exploration. Since then, it has attempted to carry out this plan carefully and evenly.

China was barred from joining the ISS. This was mainly over U.S. objections to the Chinese programs secretive nature and close military connections. It is likely, however, that China would have built its own station anyway because of its goal to become a major space power.

Ji Qiming is the Assistant Director of the China Manned Space Agency. He recently told reporters that the building and operation of the space station will raise the level of Chinese technologies. He also said it will accumulate experience for all the people.

The space program is part of an overall drive to help China take on even larger projects. China also wants to expand cooperation with Russia and other, mostly European, countries along with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.

Politics and security

Chinas space program has been a large part of its national pride. It represents the countrys rise from a poor nation to become the worlds second-largest economy in the last 40 years.

This has helped the government strengthen support for the countrys ruling Communist Party. The partys authoritarian rule and severe limits on political activity have been accepted by most Chinese citizens as long as the economy is growing.

Chinas President and head of the party, Xi Jinping, has linked himself to the latest space progress. In his recent comments, Ji gave credit to Xi for setting Chinas rise in space as a goal for the country.

As China continues to develop its space program, it is also quickly modernizing its military. This has raised concerns among some of its neighbors, as well as the U.S. and its NATO allies.

China has said it supports the peaceful development of space. But in 2007, some countries expressed concern when the country sent a missile into space to destroy an inactive weather satellite. The event created a field of debris that put other space objects at risk.

Im Gregory Stachel.

Sam McNeil reported this story for The Associated Press. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English. Bryan Lynn was the editor.

__________________________________________________

maintenance n. work that is done to keep something in good condition

accumulate v. to gather or acquire (something) gradually as time passes

pride n. a feeling that you respect yourself and deserve to be respected by other people

authoritarian adj. expecting or requiring people to obey rules or laws : not allowing personal freedom

debris n. broken pieces of something

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What Is the Importance of Chinas New Space Station? - VOA Learning English

Three taikonauts have entered China's space station for a three-month mission called Shenzhou-12, state-owned broadcaster CGTN reported Saturday.

This makes them the first Chinese to ever reach a space station and the first astronauts to set foot in the new Chinese Space Station (CSS), according to the broadcaster.

Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming, and Tang Hongbo lifted off aboard the Chinese rocket Shenzhou-12 on Thursday. The rocket took them to the core module of the CSS, known as Tianhe, which China launched into space in April.

The taikonauts entered the CSS less than three hours after Shenzhou-12 docked, CGTN said.

The trio will unpack their supplies, and set up internet connections and other equipment on the CSS, which is still under development, CGTN reported.

During their three-month stay, the taikonauts will carry out various experiments, including testing the Tianhe module's life-support capabilities and check communications between the space station and mission controllers on Earth.

They'll also conduct spacewalks to test new spacesuits and robot arms.

The 66-tonne Tianhe module is considerably smaller than the International Space Station (ISS), which weighs 450 tonnes. The whole space station is made up of the Tianhe and a supply ship Tianzhou-2.

Only three astronauts can fit in the Tianhe at one time.

The goal is for China to send taikonauts to the CSS for six-month stints, Insider's Morgan McFall-Johnson reported. Thursday's launch was the third of 11 planned launches to finish building the CSS in 2022.

The future eight missions will involve launching two more modules, three more cargo shipments, and three more astronaut crews.

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China's space station has welcomed astronauts for three-month mission - Business Insider

US astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS) have been complaining of headache, with Russian and US scientists divided on whether an increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the stations atmosphere is the reason, according to a fresh report by Russias Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center released on Monday.

WATCH: China Says Its Su-30 Fighter Jets Chased-Away US Spy Planes From The South China Sea

NASA put forward in 2008 requirements to reduce the level of carbon dioxide in response to subjective complaints from some astronauts about headaches at agreed CO2 levels of 5-6 millimeters of mercury column. At the same time, no medical examination of the crew was carried out to determine the possible causes of the headache, the report said, as cited in the training centers scientific magazine.

Though the level of CO2 has since been gradually reduced as requested by the US side, astronauts continue to complain of headaches, with the current concentration at less than 3 millimeters of mercury, the report said.

In 2014, NASA released an article based on a detailed study of the link between CO2 levels in the ISS atmosphere and astronauts headaches. When only Russias CO2 removal system operated at the station, as the US one was turned off, the CO2 concentration increased up to 6.2 millimeters of mercury column and astronauts were feeling irritability and fatigue, NASA said.

Russian specialists have refuted the link, saying that Russian and foreign cosmonauts flying to the ISS over the past 30 years had not complained of headaches, with an average CO2 level in the atmosphere of the stations of about 6 millimeters of mercury.

International Space Station Wikipedia

Among possible causes of such headaches, they listed the impact of weightlessness, associated with a rush of blood to the head, as well as the fact that astronauts breathed in the exhaled air with increased content of CO2.

Earlier, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said thatRussia and the United States can cooperate in space in spite of their divergent positions.

Even countries that we have differences with, in space we can cooperate, that fact is not lost on the leaders of Russia and the United States that will meet tomorrow at the summit, Nelson said at the Global Space Exploration Conference in Russias St. Petersburg, speaking by video link.

Both nations have been living and working together in space since 1975, Nelson said, recalling a rendezvous of the Soviet and the American spacecraft Soyuz and Apollo, respectively that ended the space race.

SPACE RACE: NASA Chief Predicts Race With China To Put Next Human On Moon

That was an example of cooperation and it continues to this day, in space, especially on the International Space Station [ISS], Nelson noted.

Russia has recently announced that it may withdraw from the ISS by 2025 and create its own space outpost. According to Roscosmos General Director Dmitry Rogozin, Russia could hand over responsibility for the Russian segment of the international space station to the US.

He later said, however, that Russia may revise its decision to withdraw from the ISS and build its own orbital station if Washington agrees to lift sanctions.

Nelson, for his part, has repeatedly stressed that NASA was committed to partnership with Roscosmos on the ISS.

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Headache At The International Space Station; Russian, US Scientists Spar Over The Possible Causes - EurAsian Times

The International Space Station has been hit by fast-moving debris but it didn't cause too much damage. Space junk hurtling towards the station smashed into one of its robotic arms, leaving a hole.

NASA and the Canadian Space Agency first noticed the damage on Canadarm2 on May 12, according to a recent statement. The debris left a gaping hole in a section of the arm boom and thermal blanket.

According to NASA, over 23,000 objects the size of a softball or larger are being tracked by the U.S. Department of Defense at all times to monitor for possible collisions with satellites and the ISS. However, some smaller objects that cannot be tracked still pose a threat, like rocks, dust particles and flecks of paint that chip off of satellites.

"A number of space shuttle windows were replaced because of damage caused by material that was analyzed and shown to be paint flecks," NASA said. "In fact, millimeter-sized orbital debris represents the highest mission-ending risk to most robotic spacecraft operating in low Earth orbit."

Space junk, which includes both natural meteoroids and man-made objects, has become a growing area of concern as the region of space immediately surrounding Earth becomes more and more crowded with rocket parts, satellites and other objects. This debris, which travels at approximately 15,700 miles per hour in low-Earth orbit, poses a threat to both spacecraft and astronauts due to their fast speeds.

"Orbital debris is any human-made object in orbit about the Earth that no longer serves a useful function," NASA says. "Such debris includes nonfunctional spacecraft, abandoned launch vehicle stages, mission-related debris, and fragmentation debris."

Officials say the nearly 60-foot arm's capabilities were unaffected by the impact and small hole created by the unknown object. Operations are continuing as planned, while officials continue gathering data on the "lucky strike."

"The threat of collisions is taken very seriously," CSA said. "NASA has a long-standing set of guidelines to ensure the safety of Station crew. The safety of astronauts on board the orbiting laboratory remains the top priority of all Station partners."

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Space junk slams into International Space Station, damaging a robotic arm - CBS News

FP TrendingJun 04, 2021 17:43:05 IST

NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Shane Kimbrough are currently living on the International Space Station. They and their fellow crew members are constantly greeted with sights of the Earth that we, mere mortals, can only dream of. Recently, these two astronauts managed to capture and share some glorious images of our planet with their fellow earthlings on Twitter. They shared pictures of the Himalayas and Italys Turin, as viewed from space. Here are some of the recent images that the astronauts on the ISS have shared with us:

Hei shared a picture of The Himalayas clicked from space on his Twitter account. The stunning image shows the Himalayas on a clear, bright day. Hei added that he cannot get enough of these images.

While the image of the snow-covered mountains was shared by Hei, Kimbrough gave a treat to the Italians with the picture he shared. He posted a picture of the northern Italian city Turin as seen from space. It seems to be nighttime as lights are glowing in the picture. Kimbrough confirmed it by saying Buona Notte Italia! (Good Night Italy).

Kimbrough also posted pictures of Canada's Montreal explaining to viewers how to spot the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) facility in the images. Several people commented on their tweets, appreciating the beautiful images that were captured from space.

Another astronaut named Thomas Pesquet who is at ISS currently often shares images of cities and regions from space. A stunning image of Egypts capital Cairo was shared by Pesquet recently as part of the #CitiesAtNight series.

The official handle of NASA had also shared an image of Turkeys Istanbul where the city can be seen glowing at night. The image was captured from the ISS as it was orbiting 263 miles above the Black Sea.

Hei is a NASA astronaut who arrived at ISS on 9 April. Shane Kimbrough, another NASA astronaut, reached the station with ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet in late April.

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Earth looks spectacular from space: 5 images clicked by astronauts on the Space Station - Firstpost

Two Russian cosmonauts will prepare a long-time docking module for eventual dismemberment from the International Space Station during a spacewalk on Wednesday (June 2) and you can watch it live.

Coverage will begin at 1 a.m. EDT (0500 GMT), and you can watch it live here on Space.com or on NASA Television and here at Space.com. Expedition 65 Flight Engineers Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov are expected to start their spacewalk at 1:20 a.m. EDT (0520 GMT). The extravehicular activity, or EVA, should last six and a half hours, although the timing is subject to change depending on how the procedures go.

Novitskiy will have red stripes on his Orlan spacesuit to designate him as lead spacewalker, while Dubrov will wear blue stripes. The cosmonauts both on their first spacewalk will exit the International Space Station (ISS) using the Russian Poisk module.

Video: Russians spacewalk to decommission Pirs in animated explainerRelated: The most memorable spacewalks in history

"The two cosmonauts will disconnect all external mechanical links between Pirs and the station, reposition spacewalk hardware and antennas, and relocate other gear previously used for spacecraft dockings to Pirs," NASA said in a statement. "The cosmonauts also will replace a fluid flow regulator on the nearby Zarya module and replace biological and material science samples on the exterior of the Russian modules," the agency added.

This spacewalk is the second in what will be a series of excursions to decommission Pirs, which has been in space since 2001; previously, cosmonauts performed work on Pirs in November 2020. NASA says this is the sixth spacewalk of 2021 and the 238th spacewalk overall in support of space station assembly, maintenance and upgrades. (Much of the 2021 spacewalk activity so far has been focused on upgrading the ISS solar arrays for at least a few more years of science in orbit.)

Pirs hosts an airlock for spacewalks along with a docking port for Soyuz crewed spacecraft and Progress uncrewed spacecraft. It can also transport fuel between the Russian Zvezda or Zarya modules or docked vehicles, NASA said in a description of the module. This summer, Pirs will be disposed of using an uncrewed Progress cargo ship that will push Pirs towards Earth, NASA added in a blog post

Pirs will be replaced a couple of days later with a new Russian Multi-Purpose Laboratory Module named "Nauka," which is Russian for "science." The long-delayed Nauka was originally supposed to launch in 2007, and after overcoming technical and funding obstacles it will finally launch July 15 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, according to Spaceflight Now's launch calendar.

"The spacecraft was designed to provide room and facilities for experiments focused on material science and biotechnology," Russian space journalist Anatoly Zak said in a description of Nauka's capabilities on RussianSpaceWeb.com, adding that the module is "designed to provide a number of critical service systems to the Russian segment of the International Space Station."

If all goes to plan, Nauka will extend the science work done on the Kristall module of the Mir space station that the Soviet Union and later, Russia managed in the 1980s and 1990s, Zak said. In November 2020, Roscosmos space chief Dmitry Rogozin said the new module will include a multi-docking hub for the Russian segment of the ISS.

Notably, Roscosmos has discussed forming an independent space station with its newer ISS modules after the end of the international project, which is slated for 2024 with a possible extension to 2028.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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Spacewalking cosmonauts will decommission an old space station module early Wednesday. Watch it live! - Space.com

Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko is pictured in an Orlan spacesuit with red stripes during a spacewalk in December 11, 2018, to inspect the Soyuz MS-09 crew ship. Credit: NASA

Expedition 65 Flight Engineers Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos have completed a spacewalk lasting seven hours and 19 minutes.

The two cosmonauts opened the hatch to the Poisk docking compartment airlock to begin the spacewalk at 1:53 a.m. EDT. They re-entered the airlock and closed the hatch at 9:12 a.m.

Pyotr Dubrovs helmet camera spots Oleg Novitskiy on the other end of the 46-foot-long (14 meters) Strela boom, a Russian crane, that the spacewalkers detached from the Pirs airlock. Credit: NASA

During the spacewalk, the duo disconnected the external mechanical links between Pirs and the space station, relocated spacewalk hardware including a telescoping crane, and reconfigured antennas to prepare the Pirs module for undocking and disposal. Additionally, the cosmonauts replaced a fluid flow regulator panel on the nearby Zarya module, jettisoned the old panel as planned, and replaced biological and material science samples on the exterior of the Russian modules.

Cosmonauts (from left) Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov conducted their first career spacewalks together. Credit: NASA

Pirs will be replaced by the new Russian Multipurpose Laboratory Module, named Nauka, which is Russian for science. The undocking of Pirs is scheduled for this summer, about two days after Nauka launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

This was the first spacewalk for both cosmonauts and the 238th spacewalk overall in support of International Space Station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades. It also marks the sixth spacewalk of 2021.

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Cosmonauts Finish Spacewalk to Ready Space Station for New Module - SciTechDaily

A Long March-7 Y3 carrier rocket carrying the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on May 29, 2021 in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China.

Yuan Chen | VCG | Getty Images

GUANGZHOU, China China has completed another major part of its own space station, the latest in a string of ambitious extraterrestrial projects from the world's second-largest economy.

The Long March 7 rocket carrying the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft took off at 8:55 p.m. local time on Saturday from the Wenchang launch site, according to the China Manned Space agency.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, Tianzhou-2 docked with the core module of the space station called Tianhe.

China's space station will be made of three modules which includes the Tianhe "core," cargo spacecraft such as Tianzhou-2 and laboratories. China will carry out 11 missions this year and next to complete the construction of the space station, and bring astronauts and supplies up too. The space station is expected to go into operation in 2022.

The docking of Tianzhou-2 has paved the way for China to launch astronauts to the space station. The cargo spacecraft carried up astronaut supplies including space suits and food. Shredded pork and kung pao chicken are among the food items transported to space, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

China's first self-developed space station will rival the International Space Station, which is a co-operative effort between the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. China is not involved.

Beijing has been putting a lot of emphasis on ambitious space projects. Last year, China completed its global navigation system called Beidou, a rival to the U.S. government-owned Global Positioning System (GPS).

After China launched its first major Mars mission last year, an unmanned Chinese spacecraft landed successfully on the Red Planet.

However, the Asian giant was criticized this month when the rocket carrying the core module for its space station, re-entered the earth's atmosphere uncontrolled and landed in the Indian Ocean.

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China completes another part of its own space station paving the way for astronauts to live there - CNBC

GUILFORD, Conn. (WTNH) A big day for Guilford company Butterfly Network with one of their high-tech medical devices launched into space to be used on the international space station.

Company founder Jonathan Rothberg, Ph.D. explains how they took bulky ultrasound technology and put it into a handheld device.

Its the worlds first and only handheld whole-body scanner so you can look into any part of your body by ultrasound which is completely safe and its built based on a semiconductor chip, says Rothberg.

A Butterfly iQ ultrasound device was on the SpaceX Dragon cargo resupply rocket that launched Thursday afternoon, heading for the International Space Station.

Now we can monitor the health of our astronauts every day.

The device connects by telemedicine with a doctor on Earth. It will be tested in the zero-gravity conditions, with the potential to be a key scanning device in long-term space flights like trips to Mars, which will take six months to get there.

Dr. Rothberg has had a long relationship with the NASA program and has other inventions.

Today I handed over to the SpaceX team our Detect and it wont just be for COVID-19, it will be for anything that comes up while youre in the space station so we have to be more self-sufficient.

He says more testing is needed but his test can be reprogrammed to detect any pathogen so the possibilities are endless for its use in space. The invention of the Butterfly iQ was not for space but rather to make medicine equitable and available to all corners of the world.

Were working with 100 charities or nongovernmental organizations to get the butterflyeverywhere where its needed.

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Guilford companys medical invention on shipment headed to the International Space Station - WTNH.com

NASA's ion propulsion system

China's upcoming Tiangong space station's first module will be equipped with an ion propulsion system which will greatly improve energy efficiency and could slash journey times to Mars,the South China Morning Post(SCMP) reports.

Such thrusters have been used since the 1970s; however, the Tiangong's core module is set to become the first crewed spaceship propelled by ion drives. China is betting big on ion thrusters and intends to develop them on a far greater scale for its deep-space missions.

The space stations core Tianhe module,which will welcome its first astronauts later this month if all goes to plan, ispropelled by four ion thrusters, which utilize electricity to accelerate ions as a type of propulsion.

When compared to chemical propulsion, which keeps the International Space Station (ISS) in orbit, ion drives are much more efficient. According to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the ISS's thrusters require four tons of rocket fuel to keep it afloat for a year, whereas ion thrusters would require only 882 pounds (400kg) to do the same.

Today's rocket technology would take a crew aboard a spaceship large enough to carry fuel and other supplies to Mars in more than eight months. However, according to some calculations by researchers, a vehicle powered by a 200-megawatt ion drive array may reduce the journey time to 39 days, allowing the mission to employ smaller vessels or carry more supplies.

It sounds good on paper, but its implementation hasn't been the best due to the thrust created not being significant enough. Most ion thrusters deployed in space, mostly in satellites, generate roughly 1 kilowatt of power, SCMP writes, but China's goal is much more ambitious.

An ion thruster generates thrust by accelerating ions using electricity: It ionizes a neutral gas by removing some electrons from atoms, creating a cloud of positive ions. When fired up, the ion drive emits blue fumes that are created by incredibly hot, electrically charged particles leaving the engine at speeds exceeding 30 times the speed of sound.

These charged particles can degrade engine components, reducing satellite longevity and possibly putting astronauts at risk. Moreover, the thrust is usually fairly low. However, the Chinese Academy of Sciences says they found a way to make it work.

The Chinese scientists put the thrusters through rigorous testing to make sure the engines could resist the damage caused by the particles. By putting a magnetic field over the engine's inner wall to repel damaging particles, they were able to protect the engine from erosion. They also developed a unique ceramic material designed to withstand severe heat or radiation for an extended period of time.m adoption has been hampered by the fact that the thrust produced isnt very significant.

Their ion thruster has reportedly run non-stop for more than 11 months without a hitch.

As space programs all around the world become more ambitious, it will be interesting to see if ion thrusters can be used in ways they have never been done before.

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China's New Space Station Will Be Powered by Ion Propulsion System - Interesting Engineering