China's ambition for human spaceflight go back a long way
18 June 2021
It is often forgotten that discussions about manned space missions started very early in China. ChinaDaily recapitulates the steps taken in the past leading to the today's success of sending taikonauts into space.
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Taikonauts arrange their new 'home' in space
19 June 2021
The Shenzhou 12 crew started to make themselves comfortable in their new home. As soon as the crew of three - Major General Nie Haisheng, Major General Liu Boming and Senior Colonel Tang Hongbo - floated into the Tianhe module on 17 June afternoon, they started to configure the electrolytic oxygen generators, install water tanks and arrange their sleeping quarters. After finishing these tasks, they enjoyed their first sleep on board. After they woke up on 18 June, Nie and his crew members started to unpack the Wi-Fi signal equipment and install and set the devices. Another task was to begin with unpacking the Tianzhou 2 cargo craft.
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New group of taikonauts getting ready for space
19 June 2021
Currently, the Astronaut Centre of China in Beijing is training the 3rd group of Chinese astronauts. The 18 new taikonauts－17 men and one woman－are in 3 groups: 7 will become spacecraft pilots, another 7 will eventually be space flight engineers and the last 4 will become mission payload specialists, CMSA said.
They are undergoing systematic and sophisticated training before qualifying for space missions.
The selection for the 3rd-generation team began in May 2018 and wrapped up in September 2020, involving 3 rounds of tests. About 2,500 applicants participated in the process.
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A closer look at the Xi'an Satellite Control Centre
17 June 2021
Li Hengnian, Director of China's State Key Laboratory of Astronautic Dynamics, gives an insight into the work of the Xi'an Satellite Control Centre. He explains which satellites are operated from Xi'an and which upgrades were done for the Tianwen 1 mission. To monitor the probe's operations, especially its trajectory on the way to Mars, an AI-based Precise Orbit Determination System was built for the 1st time. Li Hengnian was the Chief Developer. He also helped to recover a Beidou satellite which suddenly lost power after it entered orbit.
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