This artist's illustration from a China space agency video shows the Tiangong 1 space laboratory, a prototype module for the country's planned space station.
Image: China Manned Space Engineering Office
China aims to establish a large manned space station within the next decade, officials have said, and the latest reports suggest that this outpost could host not only Chinese astronauts, but European spaceflyers as well.
A plan is afoot for China and Europe to cooperate on the venture, which might see the European Space Agency (ESA) building technologies, including a rendezvous and docking system, for the station, in exchange for opportunities for its astronauts to visit the facility.
China plans to have the space station running by 2020. Both the station and China's manned spacecraft Shenzhou could use ESA's International Berthing and Docking Mechanism (IBDM), because of a problem with the Russian system the Chinese have been using until now.
China's Shenzhou and Tiangong-1 space laboratory, a test module already in orbit, use a modified version of Russia's Androgynous Peripheral Attach System (APAS). APAS was developed for the 1975 Apollo Soyuz Test Project and is used on the International Space Station (ISS). [How China's First Space Station Will Work (Infographic)]
Bouncing off
An unmanned Shenzhou spacecraft docked with Tiangong-1 for the first time in November 2011, and the docking mechanism didn't work exactly as planned, some say.
"It was originally bouncing off," Bob Chesson, an ESA human spaceflight advisor, told SPACE.com. "Essentially they have to ram this [Shenzhou] thing in and they are very worried that if you assemble a station like that, you basically will have all sorts of structure fracture mechanics problems, that type of thing."
The Shenzhou spacecraft is not heavy enough to activate the APAS docking system correctly, Chesson said, so it had to be rammed forcefully to make a connection.
Chesson traveled to Beijing with ESA's director-general Jean-Jacques Dordain and talked with the China Manned Space Engineering Office.
"Our director general has made some noises that he wants us to get involved with [the Chinese space station program]," Chesson said. "The Chinese, we had them over and showed them [the IBDM] and they were very interested because they are using the modified APAS system."
To discuss whether the IBDM system might work better for the Chinese space station, ESA officials sponsored a working seminar to collaborate with Chinese space officials, Chesson said.
Chesson has been a senior advisor to Thomas Reiter, the German-born former astronaut and head of ESA's human spaceflight directorate and operations. He spoke recently about the collaboration with China during a presentation to the Cambridge branch of the UK's Royal Aeronautical Society.
Docking basics
The IBDM is system to allow different countries' spacecraft to dock and berth with each other, despite their different designs.
Originally developed by ESA and NASA for the X-38 program, a prototype crewed spaceplane that was cancelled in 2002. The X-38, also known as the Crew Rescue Vehicle (CRV), would have allowed a seven-person International Space Station crew to escape the station.
The US space agency ended its involvement in IBDM when the X-38 program ended. Now IBDM will form part of the ESA-China cooperation, as rendezvous and docking is one of three working groups set up by Chesson for collaboration between the two agencies. The other two working groups focus on crew training and the exchange of payload facilities and experiments.
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8 Comments
Add CommentBuilding a cheaper space station! That sounds like the solution. You go, not me.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe Congressional restriction on NASA against cooperating with the Chinese is one of the most stupid things Congress has done. You don't think the Chinese haven't already read every engineering and science document created by NASA? Outside of military products, we buy everything else they make. There's nothing cheap about the Chinese space effort.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIs Congress going to compound the issue and prevent US space industry from selling LEO services to the Chinese? I hope not. That's an area where the US is ALREADY behind the Russians, the Europeans and maybe the Chinese some day. If the Chinese go big into commercial launch services, the Chinese space program could certainly pay for itself.
When it comes to manned space missions, the Chinese are going slow BUT they are extremely concerned at having one of their astronauts get hurt or killed. Having the Chinese involved in ISS would probably allow or encourage more future cooperative projects like an international effort to Mars. Thereby preventing a "Space Race" mentality that got at least 3 Astronauts killed in Apollo 1 and 7 in Challenger. In both instances, there was a "NASA-self-induced" or political element that pushed for going ahead with either a test event or a launching when it shouldn't have happened.
@dbtinc,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou don't need to pay 75$ for a hammer to make a good space station. And you don't need to fund Lockheed, Boeing and pork barrel politics.
you are so right, unfortunately the privateers of activities that are best done by gubment have taken over NASA and that's why despite the idiocy of adding to the cost of missions thanks to the need to include a profit motive we are staying the course.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisImagine if we could shave off the built-in 20% profit margin how many missions could be resurrected.
Both Obama and Romney used "China bashing" during the campaign. Now that Obama has won, he can let up a bit and cooperate with the second largest economy in the world where it is advantageous to do so.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWe allow China to take over all our manufacturing. We give over 100,000 high-tech jobs to Chinese and Indians every year. We borrow trillions to fund our Middle-East charity wars. But, when it comes to potentially selling the Chinese 2 trillion in spaceware, with the benefit that we humans get an awesome space station ... and our space contractors get a new lease on the future ... well, no .. better let our friends in Germany do that ... cuz, you know, the Germans are so good at preventing psychopaths from destroying the world.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'm no luddite. Kennedy's moon race brought us digital watches, pocket calculators, compact computers, and probably lots more, things that changed our lives. I don't know the cost and won't judge which changes are for the better and which are for the worse. Unfortunately, I don't know of any significant changes the "our" space station has brought about other than inspiring some youngsters to get interested or more interested in science, technology, engineering, and math.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI just hope that the Chinese and Europeans don't just build a showpiece that (they hope) will plunge into the ocean without hurting people or damaging property.
I'd really appreciate any responses explaining what benefit we have gotten from the space station.
I am not a Luddite ither.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI know however that Eisenhower,US Government and Military got shocked and scared shitless when Sputnic was lauched.
When Kennedy got elected he talked about Science but the real reason for the Appolo Program was to show that America was better,smarter etc.than those Communists.
As soon as Mike,Buzz and the other fellow made a succesful trip to and back from the Moon , the Public began to lose interest in the Moon and Space.
If you study the Challanger tragedy you will find that the risk to the crew was subserviant to the pressure to launch at such freezing temperature.
The American tendancy is to underestimate and deride the enemy . Remember the idea prior to WW2 that Japanese had their eyes too close together to make good Fighter Pilots.
I believe that the Chinese are well on their way for this proposed Space program.
They do not chop and change direction frequently like USA.
Just a few thoughts of someone far away over the sea.