Chinese astronauts (referred to as Taikonauts - from the Chinese word for "space" with the Greek suffix "-naut," meaning "traveler") are getting an extended stay at their Tiangong space station like Butch and Sunny got last year on the ISS, although the reason is different. They didn't switch to the Boeing "Stay-liner" to get the longer stay on orbit. The belief is that their capsule for the return to Earth was hit by some space debris while docked to the station.
The astronauts are part of the Shenzhou 20 mission, which launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on April 24 and arrived at Tiangong after a six-hour orbital chase.
The Shenzhou 20 trio — mission commander Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie — were scheduled to depart Tiangong today (Nov. 5), but a suspected impact from a small piece of debris on their spacecraft has called off that departure, according to an online post from China's Manned Spaceflight Agency (CMSA).
The Shenzhou 20 crew was preparing to return to Earth, once the replacement crew arrived - apparently similar to how ISS crews fly up, and they spend a couple of days updating the new crew, transferring knowledge on the latest changes to what the new Shenzhou 21 crew will be working on.
The China Manned Space Agency, run by the country’s military, announced the change late Tuesday in a brief statement posted to Weibo, the Chinese social media platform.
“The Shenzhou 20 manned spacecraft is suspected of being impacted by small space debris,” the statement said. “Impact analysis and risk assessment are underway. To ensure the safety and health of the astronauts and the complete success of the mission, it has been decided that the Shenzhou 20 return mission, originally scheduled for November 5, will be postponed.”
The Agency hasn't said what part of the station was damaged, how they decided it was space debris, or how long they expect the "no flight" status for Shenzhou 20’s departure to last.
The Tiangong Space Station - Image credit: China Manned Space Agency
Can they land in a vacuum suit? I wonder how their consumables are doing.
ReplyDeleteWe'll see just how they can handle a pretty serious emergency.
AFAIK the docking system is different from the ones the rest of us use. That might turn around and bite them.,
I checked. Supposedly the ChiComs use the same docking system as the rest of the world so if they ask for help at least a Dragon can dock with the station. Supposedly.
DeleteHi Beans, memory is the dock mechanisms are different. Grok says incompatible. Adapters are possible but would take time to build. Grok: "No, the SpaceX Crew Dragon (or Cargo Dragon) spacecraft cannot dock with China's Tiangong space station. Here's a breakdown of why, based on technical, operational, and policy factors:
DeleteTechnical Incompatibility
Docking Mechanisms Differ: The Dragon uses the International Docking System Standard (IDSS), a NASA-led standard (also adopted by ESA, JAXA, and others) for its docking ports. This is an androgynous system that enables low-impact docking with the International Space Station (ISS) via adapters like the International Docking Adapter (IDA). In contrast, Tiangong employs the proprietary Chinese Docking Mechanism (CDM), derived from Russian APAS-89 technology but customized and not compatible with IDSS without significant modifications. The physical interfaces (e.g., petal-like probes and drogue alignments) do not match, preventing a secure seal or transfer of crew/cargo.
Rendezvous and Navigation Systems: Even if ports were adapted, Dragon's autonomous guidance (using LIDAR, GPS, and optical sensors) is optimized for ISS ports and would require reprogramming for Tiangong's orbital parameters and signaling protocols. China's Shenzhou and Tianzhou vehicles use distinct systems tuned to CDM."
I wonder if SpaceX is going to offer to rescue the taikonauts? That would be funny. Doubt they'd be taken seriously unless something really starts to go wrong.
ReplyDeleteI've always wondered about building capsules. The traditional way was to have some in building but only have one in finished mode for launching. You'd think that there'd be a primary capsule (and launcher,) a backup capsule (and launcher) and a reserve capsule (and launcher) all ready to go just for issues like this.
It's what was promised with the Shuttle system and never delivered, of course. SpaceX can do it with launchers but I don't know the status of the existing Dragon capsules.
The docking system on the West Taiwanese station is compatible with standard capsules (Russian or US designs, or the Euroweenies if they ever get anything launched again) so there is that.
Illegal for SpaceX to do anything unilaterally (2011 Wolf Amendment) though an interesting opportunity for the Trump administration. I guess nasa is constrained too so Trump would need congress to authorize.
DeleteWouldn't it be interesting if China had contracted another company to build an interface from their system to the ISS - specifically in case they wanted to contract with SpaceX or some other third party (Putin for instance) in case something like this happened? They could hand a ready made interface to SpaceX or whomever and say, "how fast could you launch". Picture Gwen Shotwell looking at her watch and saying, "is tomorrow night OK for you?" If it's not Gwen, but whomever at wherever, change that to "is six weeks OK for you?"
DeleteIf only Gwen Shotwell could do that. It would go down in history as one of space exploration's greatest moments. Otherwise, the Chinese will (probably) solve the problem and the event will be only a footnote in history.
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ReplyDeleteI'm sure that the Chinese would consider the deaths of the taikonauts less loss of face than asking for help from Space X .
ReplyDeleteHmm. My experience with the Chinese says that there is more here than meets the eye. If they say small problem, it really must be a BIG problem. They always minimize bad news. Maybe the station is already lost...
ReplyDeletenick
I think Angie and Nick are both right, and both saying the same thing, except for one detail.
ReplyDeleteI think the world would know if the station was physically destroyed or even just shutdown by the thing that damaged their return capsule, but if it was in its orbit, and still sending out its routine telemetry everyone would think it was normal. That would mean "already lost" would translate as unrepairable.
I loathe the godless, communist china, but I hope these men get home safely. Hopefully they can all evacuate in some manner and get home safe, and then that station fall out of the sky directly onto the central hub of their space efforts.
ReplyDeleteThey do not share Western values, and have no concerns with the majority of the 'space junk' that is their own doing. May karma come for them and their programs and ambitions.
Please God, spare our men and women in space, our technology and satellites, and all of our good will from the self-serving ambitions of the godless, communist chinese.