China keeps the space dream alive - 神舟八号Shenzhou-8 Spacecraft launched on 1.11.11

China has launched the unmanned 神舟八号Shenzhou-8 spacecraft, marking the start of another key mission in the nation's quest to assemble a permanent space station within a decade.

Shenzhou-8 blasted off on board a Long March-2F carrier rocket early on 1 November 2011 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in north-western China's Gansu Province.

It was scheduled to dock with the 天宫一号 Tiangong-1 Space capsule within two days of the launch and stay linked for 12 days. 神舟八号Shenzhou-8 is then scheduled to perform a second rendez-vous and docking manoeuvre before it detaches to allow the re-entry module to return to Earth on November 17.

Astronauts are scheduled to visit 天宫一号 Tiangong-1 twice next year on the 神舟九号Shenzhou-9 and 神舟十号Shenzhou-10 spacecraft, which are designed to link with 天宫一号 Tiangong-1 to form a mini-space station.

The 神舟八号Shenzhou-8 is carrying an experimental facility developed by German and Chinese scientists. According to the German space agency DLR, plants, bacteria and human cancer cells will be exposed to zero gravity and space radiation for nearly three weeks as scientists seek to explore questions such as how gravity affects biological processes and how the immune system could be strengthened.

In one experiment, Chinese and German researchers are jointly studying a miniature ecosystem with algae and fish. They hope to develop a biological life-support system to produce oxygen and food and to treat water for longer space missions. In another, scientists will investigate the crystallisation of medically relevant proteins in space. They are interested in the development of new substances to target the MRSA "superbug" and the parasites that cause malaria.

In 2003, China became the third nation to launch an astronaut into space after Russia and the US.

Spaceport America Ready for Launch

A fly-over by Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo (SS2) suborbital vehicle and WhiteKnightTwo mothership marked the 17 October dedication of the hangar at Spaceport America, the world’s first purpose-designed launch facility for space tourism and sub-orbital science flights.

The site has officially been providing limited commercial vertical launch services since 2006 but is now gearing up for SS2 sub-orbital flights within two years. This week's event marked the formal completion of Phase One of the two-part construction program, with Phase Two now getting under way. The latest wave of work includes completion of the main hangar and construction of a visitors experience center.
 
The facility for commercial space travel in the Rio Grande valley of New Mexico, Spaceport America, is the first of its kind in the world. Virgin Galactic has signed up to be the anchor tenant for 20 years and has dedicated hundreds of millions of US dollars to developing the technology. Here are some pictures of the dedication event:


SpaceShipTwo reflected in the east facing glass wall of the Spaceport terminal
 and terminal complex designed by Sir Norman Foster.

Two views of the Spaceport from the west, the structure blends
 ‘Dune’-like  into the desert scrub.



SpaceShipTwo between the Moon and the Spaceport.



Veteran Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin hands Sir Richard Branson a plaque with the
Spaceport’s new ceremonial address – No.1 Half Moon Street, Las Cruces.
The name commemorates links to Virgin’s offices in London’s Mayfair district.

Aerial gymnasts perform at the dedication ceremony.

Virgin Galactic President/CEO George Whitesides said powered test flights to sub-orbit are still on track for next year, with rocket motor maker Sierra Nevada gearing up for a further full-duration ground test in November. The company acknowledges progress has been slower than planned, but adds that the focus remains on safety. The Geo-Trade Blog will continue to report and update on future developments at the Spaceport.

Space exploration in the 21st century – who will go forth?



The Russian Mir Space Station

In April 2011, it is 50 years since a Russian cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. Since then progress was rapid, in full Cold-War fervour, only 8 years separated Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landing on the surface of the moon. Although the moon landings handed a temporary victory to the US, the Soviet Union dominated spaceflight for the next decade (the seventies) with pioneering missions to the first space stations Salyut and Mir to experiment on the effects of long periods in space.

In a new film called First Orbit original footage of Yuri Gagarin's 108-minute voyage is spliced together with new shots of the exact route he would have taken, filmed by an astronaut on board the International Space Station. The station's orbit was specially changed to mirror the Russian's 1961 flight path. The film was released on 12 April to mark the 50th anniversary. Below is a trailer of the film:

US Space Exploration

Gagarin's solo mission signaled an early milestone in a Cold War space race between the former Soviet Union and the US. Eventually, NASA caught up and raced ahead, landing a dozen men on the moon as part of the Apollo program between 1969 and 1972. The US really began to lead the space race with the launch of its Space Shuttle Programme in 1981. The US was the Space Leader by the early 1990s. But the risk and cost were so great, the US retreated. The Cold War ended, and the Soviet Union dissolved into member states. As one of the surviving states, Russia inherited the Soviet strides in space and joined with the US, Europe, Japan and Canada to forge the 15-nation space station.

NASA's decision to retire the 30-year old shuttle fleet without a replacement in sight to continue the human push beyond Low-Earth-Orbit to explore the Solar System has not been popular - the last shuttle mission is due to launch in July 2011. Many working within the US Space Industry disagree with the US decision to cancel the Constellation Program that set out to do just that, and many are not happy that US astronauts will have to rely on the Russian Soyuz capsules to reach the International Space Station for the foreseeable future. The video below shows a new initiative called Why Space Matters recently launched to communicate the wider benefits of space exploration to the US public.

Russian Space Exploration

In the 21^st century, Russian President, Medvedev, stated that the country's space programme will remain a key government priority, but sceptics say the nation has done virtually nothing to develop a successor to the 43-year-old Soyuz spaceship. Russia has used the Soyuz and Progress spacecraft, whose designs date back to the 1960s, to send an increasing number of crew and cargo to their Space Stations and now to the International Space Station.

Russia announced recently three objectives for its space programme: it would test a next-generation spacecraft, build a new cosmodrome and consider a manned mission to Mars after 2035 and after new nuclear engines are developed.

Russian officials have set the tentative launch of a new spacecraft to replace Soyuz for 2015, but cosmonauts and industry watchers have said its development has barely begun. Russia will need to make at least 15 successful unmanned launches of the new craft, named Rus, before it can carry crew into orbit.

Russia is also due to start building a new launch pad in Russia's Far East in 2011, called Vostochny. Officials have said the first launches from Vostochny are expected in 2015. Russia still uses the Soviet-built Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for all its manned space flights and a large share of its satellite launches. Baikonur is where the history of space exploration began. The first space satellite, "Sputnik," was launched from there in 1957, as was the first manned space flight with Yuri Gagarin in 1961. Since then, over 1,200 spacecraft have been launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

However despite the positive political announcements, the Chief of the Russian Space Agency said on the anniversary of Yuri Gangarin's first space flight that the Russian Space Agency's current budget was not enough to finance breakthrough projects and that China might soon overtake Russian space technology.

Chinese Space Exploration

General Xu Qiliang, the Commander of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force believes space exploration is critical to China’s national security interests. His views reflect the Chinese government’s growing interest in space exploration and the development of space technology. China’s space program has made significant progress over the past decade. China is scheduled to start building its own space station in 2011 with the launch of an unmanned module named Tiangong-1(天宫一号).

China has collaborated mostly with other emerging economies on its space technology, especially Russia and Brazil. Russia is working with China to help the Chinese refine their Shenzhou manned vehicles (based on the Russian Soyuz design). China has also purchased spacesuit designs from Russia.



 

The new Chinese Space Station Tiangong -1

天宫一号 means "Heavenly Palace"


Tiangong -1 (天宫一号) is the first module of an unmanned space station that is expected to launch in the second half of 2011. The Tiangong -1 space module is expected to carry out China's first space docking with the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft, allowing for the building of the Space Station.

China now has the technology to be able to reach into outer space with its unmanned spacecraft and since 2003, for humans to enter space too. By operating at the highest level of space activities China has confirmed its potential place as a new 'Space Power' in the 21st Century. China too will inevitably have to reach a view on the value of its space program compared to its high costs and the potential likelihood of dramatic failure set against Chinese priorities for space exploration.

No matter who goes forth to explore the Solar System, humankind's thirst for a greater understanding of 'space' and our solar system means the world will be eagerly watching new space exploration and awaiting the new discoveries to come.

Space Air Travel – the new frontier. If NZ and Australia were only 2 hours away



Virgin Galactic SpaceShip Two craft

The history of spaceflight is short and until recently, largely uninnovative. Nazi scientist Wernher von Braun helped develop the basic technology, which involved using large amounts of liquid fuel to push large weights to escape velocity. This technique lasted throughout the cold war and beyond.

Today, Virgin Galactic is trying to buck the trend. Its SpaceShip Two craft, designed by Scaled Composites, is essentially a glider with a rocket attached. Carried aloft by a subsonic aircraft, it is launched in the air and then the rocket carries it to 109km (just over the 'Karman Line' which delineates suborbital flight from atmospheric flight). Then it glides back to earth, completing the three-hour mission.

But perhaps the real story here is the potential to apply this technology to inter-continental space travel around the Earth. Experts say that by travelling into near-Earth orbit, the length of inter-continental flights could be cut dramatically, so a flight from London to Sydney could last just two hours.

Imagine what it would mean if the Asia Pacific region were to be within commuting distance for passenger travel to Europe, US, Latin American and Africa. It would dramatically change the notion of time and space in such a way that we have not known since the invention of telegraph technology that modernised the world in the 19^th century by breaching time and space.

Inter-continental space travel would bring the world geographically closer and would eliminate the distance barrier for the world's most isolated countries like New Zealand. In elapsed time travelling New Zealand would be as close to London as Northern European countries. It would bring continents together.

For the first time we are closer than ever to this becoming a reality in the 21^st century.

What has happened so far

The construction of the World's first facility for commercial space travel in the Rio Grande valley of New Mexico is nearing completion. Spaceport America is the first of its kind in the world. Virgin Galactic has signed up to be the anchor tenant for 20 years and has dedicated hundreds of millions of US dollars to developing the technology.

The inauguration of the world's first spaceway (that is runway for space air travel) at the world's first commercial built spaceport was held in Autumn last year.



Spaceport America - the world's first Spaceport for commercial
space travel

Virgin Galactic's Sir Richard Branson said at the event “...the last few weeks have been some of the most exciting in Virgin Galactic’s development. Our spaceship is flying beautifully and will soon be making powered flights, propelled by our new hybrid rocket motor, which is also making excellent progress in its own test program...we are seeing unprecedented numbers of people coming forward to secure their reservations for this incredible experience.”

It is still unclear when Virgin Galactic will make it's first flight into space but the Geo Trade blog will continue to monitor progress on the first space flights closely and will keep you updated on all developments on near-Earth orbit inter-continental flights.

Photos Source: Courtesy of the Virgin Galactic website