Concept illustration of China's Tiangong-1
..."good progress," according to a senior Chinese space technology expert. These experiments are largely related to the development of China's aerospace procedures, such as space weather forecasts, Qi Faren, former chief designer of Shenzhou spaceships, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview. Detectors on Tiangong-1 are examining radiations of energetic particles in space to help scientists find ways to avoid the matter's disruption of satellites, he said.
The space module is also set to observe factors that could influence the orbiting of space craft, including Earth's gravity, magnetic field and atmospheric density, so as to help provide more accurate forecasts of the orbit, added Qi. The expert mentioned that one of the experiments conducted onboard aims to electrolyze liquids on space crafts into oxygen and hydrogen to add oxygen supply, which is seen as preparation for China's future space stations. There are also experiments that examine possible psychological and physical changes in astronauts in space, and changes in materials under microgravity, Qi went on.
The Tiangong-1 module, launched on Sept. 29, served as a target module to dock twice with the unmanned Shenzhou-8 spacecraft, which completed the mission last year and is now under long-term operation in space. Qi, a member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, made the remarks before the annual session of the country's top political advisory body.
Plus, the China Daily posted a news item that the country will launch 12 meteorological satellites before 2020 to further boost the country's weather monitoring capabilities, a senior meteorological official said Saturday. The orbiters are among 14 meteorological satellites that are scheduled to be launched as part of a 10-year plan created by the China Meteorological Administration, said Zheng Guoguang, director of the administration.
"The launch of these satellites will dramatically boost China's weather monitoring capabilities, providing better services for a variety of industries," Zheng said ahead of the body's upcoming annual session. On January 13, China successfully launched meteorological satellite Fengyun-II 07 from its southwestern Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The Fengyun-II 07 is the 13th meteorological satellite launched by China since 1988, bringing its total number of meteorological satellites to seven. With improvements based on previously-launched satellites, the Fengyun-II 07 is particularly useful for monitoring emergent natural disasters, Zheng said. He also disclosed that China will launch its third Fengyun-III satellite at the end of this year or early 2013.