posted 06-10-2021 08:05 PM               

Assembly of Shenzhou-12 manned spaceship and carrier rocket transferred to launching area

The assembly of the Shenzhou-12 manned spaceship and a Long March-2F carrier rocket has been transferred to the launching area of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Wednesday (June 9).

The facilities and equipment at the launch center are in good condition, and various pre-launch function checks and joint tests will be carried out as planned.

posted 06-16-2021 07:50 AM               

China unveils Shenzhou-12 astronauts for space station construction

Chinese astronauts Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo will carry out the Shenzhou-12 manned spaceflight mission, and Nie will be the commander, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced on Wednesday (June 16).

This will be the first manned mission during the construction of China's space station, and the crew will stay in orbit for three months, Ji Qiming, assistant to the director of the CMSA, told a press conference held at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, where the Shenzhou-12 spaceship will be launched on Thursday morning.

Nie, the most experienced among the three, was in the Shenzhou-6 mission in 2005 and the Shenzhou-10 mission in 2013.

It will be Liu's second spaceflight, as he once participated in the Shenzhou-7 mission in 2008, which featured a landmark spacewalk.

Tang will be a newcomer to space. He became a member of the second batch of Chinese astronauts in 2010.

Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu will be the backup crew, Ji said.

The Shenzhou-12 spaceship will conduct a fast autonomous rendezvous and docking with the space station core module Tianhe and form a complex with Tianhe and the cargo craft Tianzhou-2.

China launched Tianhe on April 29 and Tianzhou-2 on May 29. The two completed a computer-orchestrated rendezvous and docking on May 30, waiting for the first crewed mission to unpack the cargo.

posted 06-16-2021 08:48 PM               

Shenzhou 12 crew launches to outfit, occupy China's space station

Three astronauts have lifted off on China's first crewed mission in five years to help assemble and be the first to take up residency on the nation's new space station.

Veteran Chinese astronauts Nie Haisheng and Liu Boming, together with first-time flier Tang Hongbo, launched aboard China's Shenzhou 12 spacecraft on Wednesday (June 16). The three crewmates flew atop a Long March 2F rocket at 9:22 p.m EDT (0122 GMT or 9:22 a.m. Beijing Time on June 17) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

posted 06-17-2021 07:22 AM               

Shenzhou 12 docks with space station core module

China's Shenzhou-12 manned spaceship successfully completed orbital status setting after entering the orbit and conducted a fast autonomous rendezvous and docking with the front docking port of the core module Tianhe at 15:54 (Beijing Time) [3:54 a.m. EDT] on June 17th. They will form a three-module combination with the cargo craft Tianzhou-2, which docked with Tianhe earlier.

The whole process took approximately 6.5 hours.

This is Tianhe's first rendezvous and docking with a Shenzhou spaceship since it was sent into orbit.

After a series of preparations, the astronauts opened the hatches of the node and the Tianhe module. By 6:48 p.m. (Beijing Time) [6:48 a.m. EDT], Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo had entered the Tianhe module one by one, signifying that for the first time the Chinese have entered their own space station.

posted 07-04-2021 01:35 PM               

Astronauts install tools on first spacewalk outside China's space station

For the first time, two astronauts have worked outside of China's space station, completing only the second spacewalk in the history of the country's space program.

Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo began the six-hour and 46-minute extravehicular activity (EVA) on Saturday (July 3) at 8:11 p.m. EDT (0011 GMT or 8:11 a.m. Beijing Time on July 4). Liu was first to exit the space station's Tianhe ("Harmony of the Heavens") core module, followed by Tang about three hours later.

posted 08-20-2021 10:29 AM               

Chinese astronauts perform second spacewalk outside space station

Two astronauts completed a spacewalk outside China's new space station overnight on Thursday (Aug. 19), according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

This was the second time that members of the Shenzhou 12 crew conducted a spacewalk to support the assembly of the country's space station and only the third Chinese extravehicular activity (EVA) in history. CMSA declared the EVA a complete success.

Astronauts Nie Haisheng and Liu Boming left Tianhe, the station's core module, at 8:38 p.m. EDT (0038 GMT or 8:38 a.m. Beijing Time) and finished with all their scheduled tasks after nearly six hours at 2:33 a.m. EDT on Friday (0633 GMT or 2:33 p.m. Beijing Time), about an hour ahead of schedule.

Astronaut Tang Hongbo remained inside Tianhe, where he helped coordinate the EVA for Nie and Liu.

"The three astronauts have done a wonderful job," said Zou Xuemei, deputy chief engineer of the Beijing Aerospace Control Center for the space station mission. "The coordination between space and the ground, and among the ground posts have undergone smoothly. The Shenzhou 12 spaceship crew will continue to carry out the scientific and technological space experiments before their planned return in the middle of September."

Nie and Liu's tasks on this spacewalk included the installation and extension of pumps and lifting a panoramic camera into place. The EVA also further tested the performance and function of China's next-generation extravehicular mobility units (spacesuits) and the coordination between the astronauts and the station's robotic arm, said the CMSA.

"The second EVA is different from the first one," said Sun Jun, chief engineer of the Beijing Aerospace Control Center for the space station mission. "The first EVA, we raised the height of panoramic camera A. This time, our major task is extravehicular extended pump sets installation. Another job is to lift the height of panoramic camera D, and some equipment preparations for more EVAs later."

"At present, we are still in the stage of verification and construction of key technologies of the space station, and we are still in the stage of verification of key technologies. So, fully master the technology of using mechanical arm and man-machine cooperation to carry out EVAs will support us the long-term operation and management of the space station and some space activities in the future," said Sun.

posted 09-16-2021 10:03 AM               

Astronauts to return home after China's longest space mission

The Shenzhou 12 spaceship completed circumnavigation and radial rendezvous tests at 1:38 p.m. Beijing Time (1:38 a.m. EDT or 0538 GMT) Thursday (Sept. 16), and the three astronauts will start their way home.

The tests successfully verified the radial rendezvous technology, laying an important technical foundation for the following manned missions, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

The spaceship will return as planned. The three astronauts Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo will begin their journey home, after living and working in the space station core module Tianhe for 90 days, the longest stay in space by Chinese astronauts, the CMSA said.

Shenzhou 12 separated from Tianhe at 8:56 a.m. Thursday (8:56 p.m. EDT Sept. 15 or 0058 GMT).

The three Chinese astronauts were sent into space onboard the Shenzhou 12 spaceship and entered Tianhe on June 17. The crew carried out extravehicular activities twice over the past 90 days.

posted 09-17-2021 01:01 AM               

Shenzhou 12 crew lands after record stay on Chinese space station

China's first space station crew has returned to Earth with the record for the longest time in space by Chinese astronauts.

Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo landed on Friday (Sept. 17) aboard their Shenzhou 12 spacecraft after spending 92 days in orbit. Descending under a parachute, the capsule touched down at 1:34 a.m. EDT (0534 GMT or 1:34 p.m. Beijing Time) near Dongfeng in the Gobi Desert, northeast of the Jiuquan Satellite Center from where they launched three months ago.