China kicks off first crewed mission for application, development stage of its space station(People's Daily)

China"sShenzhou-16mannedspaceship,atopaLongMarch-2Fcarrierrocket,blastedofffromtheJiuquanSatelliteLaunchCenterinnorthwestChinaat9:31a.m.onMay30,sendingthreeastronautstothecountry"sspacestationcombination.

At4:29p.m.onthesameday,thespaceshipsuccessfullydockedwiththeradialportofthecoremoduleTianheofthespacestationcombination.ThecrewmembersJingHaipeng,ZhuYangzhuandGuiHaichaothenenteredthecoremodule,markingChina"ssecondin-orbitcrewrotation.

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ThisscreenimageshowstheShenzhou-15andShenzhou-16crewtakinggrouppicturesinsidethecoremoduleTianheofChina"sspacestation.(PhotofromtheofficialwebsiteofChinaMannedSpace)

TheShenzhou-16isthefirstcrewedmissionfortheapplicationanddevelopmentstageofChina"sspacestation,duringwhichtheShenzhou-16andShenzhou-15crewswillstartanewroundofin-orbitcrewhandover.

ItisreportedthattheShenzhou-16crewwillperformextravehicularactivities,conductin-orbittestsandexperiments,andcarryoutequipmentinstallation,debugging,maintenanceandrepair.

TheShenzhoumannedspacecraftandtheLongMarch-2Fcarrierrocketagainmakeaperfectpair.Together,thetwohavemaderemarkablecontributionstoChina"smannedspaceexploration.

Shenzhouistheonlymannedround-tripspacecraftmodelinChina.Itplaysavitalroleinsafeguardingthesafetyofastronauts.

Centeringonthe14sub-systemsofthespaceship"sorbiting,returnandpropellingcapsules,thedevelopmentteamofShenzhoufromChinaAerospaceScienceandTechnologyCorporation(CASC)hasmademorethan100technicalimprovementsandupgradesoverthepreviousShenzhouspacecraft,withanaimtoinformationizethespaceship"sdataconnectivity,digitalizeitscableassemblyandlayout,andmakethemonitoringofkeyparametersmoreintelligent.

Asee-offceremonyforthreeChineseastronautsoftheShenzhou-16crewedspacemissionisheldattheJiuquanSatelliteLaunchCenterinnorthwestChina,May30,2023.(People"sDailyOnline/WangXiaobo)

AsChinahaskickedofftheapplicationanddevelopmentstageofitsspacestation,thecountrynowcarriesoutcrewedmissionsonaregularbasiswithafrequencyoftwiceayear,upfromonelauncheverytwotothreeyearsinthepast.

AsthefirstoneamonganewbatchofupgradedShenzhouspacecraft,theShenzhou-16wasdesignedinpursuitofefficiencyandquality.Forinstance,afteryearsofefforts,scientificresearchersabandonedthepiece-by-piecehandmadeproductionmodelofmulti-layerinsulation,knownasthe"overcoat"ofspacecraft,andoptedfordigitaldesigningandanautomatedproductionline.

TheLongMarch-2FcarrierrocketistheonlymannedlaunchvehiclepresentlyinserviceinChina.Ithassucceededinallitsmissions.

"ComparedwiththeLongMarch-2FY15carrierrocket,theLongMarch-2Fhasmade20technicalupgrades,"saidLiuFeng,deputychiefdesignerfortheLongMarch-2FlaunchvehiclewiththeCASCChinaAcademyofLaunchVehicleTechnology.

Accordingtohim,thedevelopmentteamfurtherloweredthefaultrateoftherocketandstrengthenedtherocket"sreliabilitybyimprovingitstechniques.

TheShenzhou-16mannedspaceship,atopaLongMarch-2Fcarrierrocket,blastsofffromtheJiuquanSatelliteLaunchCenterinnorthwestChina,May30,2023.(People"sDailyOnline/CaoHongzu)

Thelargerweightandsizeofthecombinationmadethedockingthistimemoredifficult.Tosolvethisproblem,theCASCresearchteamoptimizedtheShenzhou-16spaceship"snavigationandcontrolsystemthroughspecializedanalysisandsimulation.

Livinginspaceisachallengeforastronautsastheirhealthconditionsmaybeaffectedbythespaceenvironment.Asetofhealthmonitoringdevicesisneededtochecktheirheartrate,breath,bodytemperature,bloodpressureandotherindices.

SuchdevicesontheShenzhou-16spaceship,developedbyaninstituteundertheCASC,constituteadataprocessingcenterforthephysiologicalinformationofastronautsthatmonitorsandsafeguardsastronauts"healthconditions.

Comparedwithgeneralmedicalmonitoringdevices,theonesontheShenzhou-16aremuchmorereliableandsafer.Apartfrommonitoringhealthconditions,theycanalsostore,transferandprocessrelevantinformation,sothatgroundmedicalstaffareabletoguideastronautstocopewithhealthemergencies.

Pressurereliefvalves,liquidshut-offvalves,physiologicalsignaltestkitsandECGrecordersarealsoonboardwiththeShenzhou-16crewthistime.ThesetechnologicallymatureproductshavejoinedmultipleflightverificationsandmissionsofShenzhouspacecraft.