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China-Shenzhou-12/Radial Rendezvous Test
Beijing, China - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Animation simulating Tianzhou 2 and Tianhe 1 docking in space
2. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Xie Yongchun, director, Technology Committee, 502 Research Institute, China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) (partially overlaid by shot 3):
"The forward and rearward rendezvous are conducted on a 200-meter contact point. It is a stable point, which means it can be kept unmoved if the engines on the spacecraft are off. But the radial rendezvous is something different. Due to the kinetic characteristics of the orbit, the spacecraft will not be able to stay there stably in space. Therefore, we will keep conducting orbit control of the spacecraft."
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
3. Animation simulating Tianhe 1, Tianhe 1 docking with Tianzhou 2, Shenzhou-12 in space
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
4. Animation simulating Tianhe 1 in space
5. SOUNDBITE(Chinese) Xie Yongchun, director, Technology Committee, 502 Research Institute, China Academy of Space Technology (CAST):
"We must ensure that the sensor information will not be lost in the process of attitude maneuver, in a dynamic process. This is more difficult to achieve than when the sensor is in a stable status. We have to solve this problem by improving the measurement accuracy and stability of the sensor in dynamic conditions."
6. Animation simulating Tianhe 1 in space
7. SOUNDBITE(Chinese) Xie Yongchun, director, Technology Committee, 502 Research Institute, China Academy of Space Technology (CAST):
"It will have a great impact on our measurement accuracy if we can't see the mark point clearly. Another thing is, the lighting conditions might be different during the process of the radial rendezvous, very different from the forward and rearward rendezvous. Since the space station is in orbit, the lighting conditions may change anytime during the rendezvous process. This will affect the reflection characteristics of the mark. So we have to conduct trila operations beforehand."
8. Animation simulating Tianhe 1 and Shenzhou-12 conducting radial rendezvous test
China's Shenzhou-12 spaceship will carry out radial rendezvous with the Tianhe core module combination in orbit for the first time on Thursday, to verify the key technology to lay the foundation for future launch of the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft, according to a chief designer for China's space program.
Different from the forward and rearwards rendezvous China had done in the past on its spacecraft, the radial rendezvous is a much more difficult task to achieve in terms of the technical level, said Xie Yongchun, director of the Technology Committee in China Academy of Space Technology (CAST)'s 502 Research Institute.
"The forward and rearward rendezvous are conducted on a 200-meter contact point. It is a stable point, which means it can be kept unmoved if the engines on the spacecraft are off. But the radial rendezvous is something different. Due to the kinetic characteristics of the orbit, the spacecraft will not be able to stay there stably in space. Therefore, we will keep conducting orbit control of the spacecraft," Xie said.
During the radial rendezvous process, Shenzhou-12 has to adjust its attitude constantly. How to keep the attitude of the spacecraft stable and how to keep its interface with the core module accurate are difficult problems faced by aerospace scientists.
"We must ensure that the sensor information will not be lost in the process of attitude maneuver, in a dynamic process. This is more difficult to achieve than when the sensor is in a stable status. We have to solve this problem by improving the measurement accuracy and stability of the sensor in dynamic conditions," she said.
The radial rendezvous test on Shenzhou-12 this time will be conducted without the docking process, in efforts to prove whether or not the sensor on the spacecraft, which can be viewed as the spacecraft's "eyes", can play its role effectively.
"It will have a great impact on our measurement accuracy if we can't see the mark point clearly. Another thing is, the lighting conditions might be different during the process of the radial rendezvous, very different from the forward and rearward rendezvous. Since the space station is in orbit, the lighting conditions may change anytime during the rendezvous process. This will affect the reflection characteristics of the mark. So we have to conduct trila operations beforehand," Xie said.
China on June 17, 2021 successfully launched the crewed spacecraft Shenzhou-12, sending three astronauts to its space station core module Tianhe for a three-month mission, the longest stay to date for China's space program.
It is China's seventh crewed mission to space and the first during the construction of China's space station.
After fulfilling the three-month space flight mission, the three astronauts are expected to return to the Earth at an appropriate time in the next few days.
The Tianzhou-3 cargo craft and the Shenzhou-13 manned spaceship will also be launched later this year to dock with Tianhe, and another three astronauts will then begin their six-month stay in orbit, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
After the five launch missions this year, China plans to have six more missions, including the launch of the Wentian and Mengtian lab modules, two cargo spacecraft and two crewed spaceships, in 2022, to complete the construction of the space station.
China-Shenzhou-12/Radial Rendezvous Test
Dateline : Recent
Location : China
Duration : 1'19
Beijing, China - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Animation simulating Tianzhou 2 and Tianhe 1 docking in space
2. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Xie Yongchun, director, Technology Committee, 502 Research Institute, China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) (partially overlaid by shot 3):
"The forward and rearward rendezvous are conducted on a 200-meter contact point. It is a stable point, which means it can be kept unmoved if the engines on the spacecraft are off. But the radial rendezvous is something different. Due to the kinetic characteristics of the orbit, the spacecraft will not be able to stay there stably in space. Therefore, we will keep conducting orbit control of the spacecraft."
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
3. Animation simulating Tianhe 1, Tianhe 1 docking with Tianzhou 2, Shenzhou-12 in space
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
4. Animation simulating Tianhe 1 in space
5. SOUNDBITE(Chinese) Xie Yongchun, director, Technology Committee, 502 Research Institute, China Academy of Space Technology (CAST):
"We must ensure that the sensor information will not be lost in the process of attitude maneuver, in a dynamic process. This is more difficult to achieve than when the sensor is in a stable status. We have to solve this problem by improving the measurement accuracy and stability of the sensor in dynamic conditions."
6. Animation simulating Tianhe 1 in space
7. SOUNDBITE(Chinese) Xie Yongchun, director, Technology Committee, 502 Research Institute, China Academy of Space Technology (CAST):
"It will have a great impact on our measurement accuracy if we can't see the mark point clearly. Another thing is, the lighting conditions might be different during the process of the radial rendezvous, very different from the forward and rearward rendezvous. Since the space station is in orbit, the lighting conditions may change anytime during the rendezvous process. This will affect the reflection characteristics of the mark. So we have to conduct trila operations beforehand."
8. Animation simulating Tianhe 1 and Shenzhou-12 conducting radial rendezvous test
China's Shenzhou-12 spaceship will carry out radial rendezvous with the Tianhe core module combination in orbit for the first time on Thursday, to verify the key technology to lay the foundation for future launch of the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft, according to a chief designer for China's space program.
Different from the forward and rearwards rendezvous China had done in the past on its spacecraft, the radial rendezvous is a much more difficult task to achieve in terms of the technical level, said Xie Yongchun, director of the Technology Committee in China Academy of Space Technology (CAST)'s 502 Research Institute.
"The forward and rearward rendezvous are conducted on a 200-meter contact point. It is a stable point, which means it can be kept unmoved if the engines on the spacecraft are off. But the radial rendezvous is something different. Due to the kinetic characteristics of the orbit, the spacecraft will not be able to stay there stably in space. Therefore, we will keep conducting orbit control of the spacecraft," Xie said.
During the radial rendezvous process, Shenzhou-12 has to adjust its attitude constantly. How to keep the attitude of the spacecraft stable and how to keep its interface with the core module accurate are difficult problems faced by aerospace scientists.
"We must ensure that the sensor information will not be lost in the process of attitude maneuver, in a dynamic process. This is more difficult to achieve than when the sensor is in a stable status. We have to solve this problem by improving the measurement accuracy and stability of the sensor in dynamic conditions," she said.
The radial rendezvous test on Shenzhou-12 this time will be conducted without the docking process, in efforts to prove whether or not the sensor on the spacecraft, which can be viewed as the spacecraft's "eyes", can play its role effectively.
"It will have a great impact on our measurement accuracy if we can't see the mark point clearly. Another thing is, the lighting conditions might be different during the process of the radial rendezvous, very different from the forward and rearward rendezvous. Since the space station is in orbit, the lighting conditions may change anytime during the rendezvous process. This will affect the reflection characteristics of the mark. So we have to conduct trila operations beforehand," Xie said.
China on June 17, 2021 successfully launched the crewed spacecraft Shenzhou-12, sending three astronauts to its space station core module Tianhe for a three-month mission, the longest stay to date for China's space program.
It is China's seventh crewed mission to space and the first during the construction of China's space station.
After fulfilling the three-month space flight mission, the three astronauts are expected to return to the Earth at an appropriate time in the next few days.
The Tianzhou-3 cargo craft and the Shenzhou-13 manned spaceship will also be launched later this year to dock with Tianhe, and another three astronauts will then begin their six-month stay in orbit, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
After the five launch missions this year, China plans to have six more missions, including the launch of the Wentian and Mengtian lab modules, two cargo spacecraft and two crewed spaceships, in 2022, to complete the construction of the space station.
ID : 8226543
Published : 2021-09-16 12:15
Last Modified : 2021-09-16 15:54:00
Source : China Media Group(CMG)-CCTV
Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland
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