The impending end of China’s first space station.
The impending end of China’s first space station.
Tag: China
China’s first unmanned lunar lander is now scheduled for launch before the end of the year.
The competition heats up: China’s first unmanned lunar lander is now scheduled for launch before the end of the year.
This mission is the second stage in their long term plans for unmanned lunar exploration. It began with an orbiter which mapped the surface in high detail, followed now by a lander, which will then be followed by a sample return mission.
A review and analysis of China’s space program.
A review and analysis of China’s space program.
The review’s one fault is that it ignores the military aspects of China’s effort. Nonetheless, its conclusions on China’s reasons for building this program illustrate once again why I repeatedly say, “The competition is heating up.”
World’s largest building has opened in China.
World’s largest building has opened in China.
Shenzhou 10 has landed safely, completing it 15 day mission.
Shenzhou 10 has landed safely, completing its 15 day mission.
The Chinese astronauts have undocked from the Tiengong-1 space station and will return to Earth tomorrow.
The Chinese astronauts have undocked from the Tiengong-1 space station and will return to Earth tomorrow.
Following a separation from the Tiangong-1 at 7:05 a.m. Beijing Time, the manned Shenzhou-10 moved back to a point from where the spacecraft changed its orbit and flew around the target module. Under the command of ground-based professionals, Shenzhou-10 adjusted its flight gesture at a point behind Tiangong-1, and approached and rendezvoused with the target module.
The fly-around and rendezvous was apparently controlled by ground controllers, not the astronauts on board.
As planned, the Chinese astronauts successfully completed a manual docking today to their station Tiengong 1.
As planned, the Chinese astronauts successfully completed a manual docking today to their station Tiengong 1.
China’s manned Shenzhou-10 capsule successfully completed an automated docking with its Tiengong-1 space station today.
China’s manned Shenzhou-10 capsule successfully completed an automated docking with its Tiengong-1 space station today.
They will spend 12 days on board the station, during which they will do, among other things, one manual docking test.
China’s next manned mission is now scheduled for launch tomorrow, Tuesday, June 11.
China’s next manned mission is now scheduled for launch tomorrow, Tuesday, June 11.
The spacecraft will travel in the space for 15 days and go through two docking tests with the orbiting space lab module Tiangong-1, one automatic and the other manual.
A new Defense Department report says that China is aggressively ramping up its space program.
The competition heats up: A new Defense Department report says that China is aggressively ramping up its space program.
China will continue to augment its orbiting assets, with the planned launch of 100 more satellites through 2015. These launches include imaging, remote sensing, navigation, communication and scientific satellites, as well as manned spacecraft.
China is pursuing a variety of air, sea, undersea, space, counterspace and information warfare systems, as well as operational concepts, moving toward an array of overlapping, multilayered offensive capabilities extending from China’s coast into the western Pacific. China’s 2008 Defense White Paper asserts that one of the priorities for the development of China’s armed forces is to “increase the country’s capabilities to maintain maritime, space and electromagnetic space security.”
Further, China continues to develop the Long March 5 rocket, which is intended to lift heavy payloads into space. LM-5 will more than double the size of the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO) payloads China is capable of placing into orbit. To support these rockets, China began constructing the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in 2008. Located on Hainan Island, this launch facility is expected to be complete sometime this year 2013, with the initial LM-5 launch scheduled for 2014.
The Chinese national who had been arrested at Dulles airport as he left for China with a NASA laptop has been released after pleading guilty to one charge, having porn on the laptop.
The Chinese national who had been arrested at Dulles airport as he left for China with a NASA laptop has been released after pleading guilty to one charge, having porn on the laptop.
Investigators found no classified information on the computer. As part of the release agreement, however, the man must leave the U.S.
Though the man, Bo Jiang, was very careful to bring nothing secret with him when he tried to flee to China in March, the circumstantial evidence suggests that he should not have had access to this information in the first place, and that in the past he might have illegally funneled classified information to China.
A Chinese scientist who worked as a contractor for NASA was arrested yesterday on a plane about to leave for China.
A Chinese scientist who worked as a contractor for NASA was arrested yesterday on a plane about to leave for China.
Agents learned Friday that Jiang was to return to China on a one-way ticket Saturday, the affidavit said. He flew from Norfolk to Dulles International Airport outside Washington, where he boarded a plane bound for Beijing. Federal agents pulled him off the flight and searched his belongings. During what they called a “consensual encounter,” the agents asked Jiang what electronic media he had with him. He told an agent from the Department of Homeland Security that he had a cellphone, a memory stick, an external hard drive and a new computer.
But during the search, according to the affidavit, agents found an additional laptop, an old hard drive and a portable memory chip called a SIM card. He was arrested, and made his initial court appearance Monday.
It appears that the restrictions Congress placed on hiring foreign nationals had some merit. Moreover, it appears that the accusation by one congressman that NASA has been trying to circumvent those restrictions is true.