Shenzhou-15
China began construction of the space station with the launch of Tianhe – the first and largest of the station’s three modules – in late April 2021. A total of 11 missions were part of the intensive construction phase of the space station, scheduled from April 29, 2021 to in the course of 2022, three of which will concern modules, four, cargo vessels, and four, manned vessels.
The Shenzhou-12 mission in June 2021 would be followed by the Tianzhou-3 robotic cargo flight in September and the Shenzhou-13 crew mission in October, making 2021 the first year with multiple Chinese crewed launches. For 2022, the Chinese space station flight manifest features the Tianzhou-4 and Shenzhou-14 flights in the spring, the Tianzhou-5 and Shenzhou-15 flights in the fall, and the Wentian and Mengtian scientific modules set for summer launches.
The crew of Shenzhou-12 and the next three manned space flights - Shenzhou-13, 14 and 15 - were selected from the members of the first and second group of taikonauts. China selected its first group of 14 cosmonauts in the mid-1990s. Since 2003, the country has sent six into space, including Zhai Zhigang, the first Chinese to perform a spacewalk in September 2008. Three years later, the China selected its second group, made up of five men and two women: it was the first time that women had been part of a Chinese space mission. Although they are not participating in the Shenzhou-12 mission, they will be present afterwards.
The Shenzhou-14 and 15 missions were scheduled to take place in 2022, with each crew remaining in space for six months. The astronauts will perform multiple tasks outside the cabin, including repairs and maintenance on the spacecraft as well as construction missions, The outings will become routine and the length of these trips will become routine. activities will be considerably extended.
The China Space Station staged its first "heavenly reunion" of six taikonauts after it entered the application and development phase at the end of 2022. Led by mission commander and veteran taikonaut Jing Haipeng, the incoming Shenzhou-16 trio entered the space station at 6:22 pm on Tuesday where they received warm embraces from their Shenzhou-15 brothers. The historic moment marked the beginning of China's second in-orbit direct handover between two Shenzhou crews, following the first one between the Shenzhou-15 and Shenzhou-14 crew in November 2022.
Shenzhou-15 mission commander Fei Junlong and his fellow crew members Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu, who are famous for their great skills and passion for Chinese calligraphy, decorated the Tianhe core module with red and joyful couplets for the welcome party. The six taikonauts exchanged hugs and firm handshakes before they have a group picture taken to celebrate the reunion in space. Next, the crew of the two missions would carry out an in-orbit handover and will live together in the space station for about five days before the Shenzhou-15 returns to Earth, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
Currently, a total of 17 astronauts were in orbit: - six taikonauts from China, five NASA astronauts from the US, three cosmonauts from Russia, two from Saudi Arabia and one from the UAE.
Marking the first manned space mission after China's space station entered its application and development phase, the Shenzhou-16 spacecraft carrying three taikonauts was successfully launched onboard a Long March-2F carrier rocket at 9:31 am on Tuesday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center located in Northwest China. After a flight of around 10 minutes, the Shenzhou-16 spacecraft successfully separated from the launch vehicle and entered its preset orbit, with the crew members in good condition, according to a statement the CMSA sent to the Global Times, announcing the success of the launch mission. At 4:29 pm, some six and a half hours after launch, the Shenzhou-16 spacecraft docked with the Tianhe core module's radial port, announced the CMSA.
According to CMSA spokesperson Lin Xiqiang, the Shenzhou-15 crew had so far stayed and worked in orbit for 182 days, during which they have successfully carried out four extravehicular activities (EVAs), which set a new record with most space walking missions executed for a single crew. Moreover, the Shenzhou-15 trio have achieved multiple payload tasks outside the space station cabin, human factors engineering technology research, 28 aerospace medical experiments, and 38 space science trials covering life ecology, material science and fluid mechanics among others, through which they have obtained valuable experimental data, Lin said.
Before returning to Earth, the Shenzhou-15 crew carried on with their space science experiments in orbit, complete the collection and disposal of experimental samples and check the items that returned to Earth in their capsule. It takes around six months for those who serve on long-term spaceflight missions to see a return to their normal physical condition, before they resume training and participate in another round of space flight candidate selection. It will take about one to one and a half years for such candidates to be able to execute another space mission, Lin explained, noting that he believes we could soon see the crew again in space in subsequent missions.
Having spent six months living and working in the China Space Station, setting a new record for China's manned space program with four spacewalks by a single crew, the three Shenzhou-15 taikonauts, known as the "dream crew," safely returned to the Dongfeng landing site in the Gobi Desert, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and then arrived at Beijing on 04 June 2023.
At around 6:37 am Beijing time, the return capsule of the Shenzhou-15 manned spacecraft carrying mission commander Fei Junlong and his fellow crewmembers Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu, conducted a successful touchdown at the Dongfeng landing site. Medical personnel confirmed that the three were in good health, marking a complete success of the return mission, the Global Times has learned from the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on Sunday.
The Shenzhou-15 manned spaceship separated from the country's space station combination at 9:29 pm Saturday (Beijing Time). Before their departure, the Shenzhou-15 crew has handed over the key to the China Space Station to the Shenzhou-16 crew in orbit. The three taikonauts on the Shenzhou-16 space station are scheduled to return to the Dongfeng landing site in November. Before their return, the Shenzhou-17 manned spacecraft will visit the docking, according to the CMSA.
Despite being the oldest crew in terms of the average age at 53, the trio delivered multiple firsts and set several records in the country's manned space history during their 187-day-stay in orbit. They were given the endearing nickname of "dream crew" by Chinese netizens based on their decades-long preparation for the spaceflight missions. Zhang waited 12 years, Fei 17 years and Deng 24 years.
Deng spent 24 years training and preparing before his first space trip and was also acting as the back-up taikonaut for four earlier Shenzhou missions. Deng was the only member of China's first batch of astronauts who had not visited space yet still in active service before the Shenzhou-15 mission.
On April 15, the Shenzhou-15 crew executed their fourth extravehicular activity, known as a spacewalking mission, which set a new record with most space walking missions executed by a single crew. Moreover, the Shenzhou-15 trio has achieved multiple payload tasks outside the space station cabin, human factors engineering technology research, 28 aerospace medical experiments, and 38 space experiments covering life ecology, material science and fluid mechanics among others, through which they have obtained valuable experimental data.
In fact, the Shenzhou-15 crew has already opened a new chapter for the China Space Station with their arrival at the space station on November 30, 2022, as it not only marked the beginning of the first direct hand-over between two manned spaceflight crews but also that the China Space Station would henceforth be permanently inhabited for at least a decade, mission insiders confirmed when speaking with the Global Times.
Following the successful launch and docking of the Tianzhou-6 spacecraft, the Shenzhou-15 taikonauts have also assisted the scientific team in carrying out six to 15 days of cell culture experiments while in orbit. Among them is the first international research on human pluripotent stem cells in vitro hematopoietic differentiation of human embryonic stem cells in space conditions. Furthermore, the Shenzhou-15 mission is the last step in the construction phase of the China Space Station and with the arrival of the Shenzhou-15 spaceship, the space station has expanded to its largest configuration of three modules and three spaceships, with a total mass of nearly 100 tons.
The stable tracking of manned spacecraft through the black barrier area indicates that China has made great breakthroughs in the problem of tracking and measuring manned spacecraft back through the black barrier area. In the process of the crew returning to Earth, when the spacecraft re-entry capsule enters into the atmosphere, it will get into a black barrier area. At this point, due to high-temperature friction, the entire surface of the capsule will form a plasma, which will lose contact with the ground for a while. This is one of the most dangerous parts of the return journey.
"Our team is responsible for tracking the return mission. The time for the re-entry capsule to enter the black barrier is about 80 seconds. During this time, the re-entry capsule of the spacecraft cannot communicate with ground control. We only have 90 seconds to find and capture the target, which is quite difficult," Hu Kai, head of Hotian tracking and control team of the Xi'an Satellite Control Center, told the Global Times on Saturday. Hu said that in order to ensure the successful completion of the measurement and control mission, researchers have updated the software and hardware, adopted a dual-device solution, and tested the latest generation of measurement and control equipment for the first time.
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