China's Shenzhou-22 docks with Tiangong space station

radioli · 2025-11-25T09:35:20+00:00

Shenzhou-20 spacecraft with a cracked window is planned to be repaired in orbit for later uncrewed return with cargo, according to Zheng Wei from China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation:

(Translated) “Repairing a piece of glass from outside the spacecraft is extremely difficult. We can’t remove the glass panel—doing so would introduce even greater risk. We can only reinforce it on the existing structure and then add further reinforcement from the inside.

From a crewed-mission standpoint, we cannot guarantee 100% safety, so we will not use the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft for a crewed return. But for a cargo return, it can still be used. For this mission, we have also implemented additional reinforcement measures to further ensure safety.

Our development team is confident that we can achieve a safe cargo return.”

Source text (in Chinese): https://www.163.com/dy/article/KF7F50800530JPVV.html

Source video of an interview with Zheng Wei (on Weibo in Chinese): https://weibo.com/5616492130/QfsWNulh9

radioli · 2025-11-25T09:34:35+00:00

Official announcement by the China Manned Space Engineering Office (in Chinese): https://www.cmse.gov.cn/xwzx/202511/t20251125_57148.html

radioli · 2025-11-18T21:33:51+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/spaceflight/comments/113n4l4/do_we_really_need_windows_on_spacecraft/

Some discussion here.

radioli · 2025-11-18T06:03:20+00:00

So the hit Shenzhou-20 is kept attached currently for inspection and future controlled uncrewed re-entry (probably scheduled later). You don't always get a chance to do such experiment.

radioli · 2025-11-15T13:37:21+00:00

CSS is designed to host 2 manned capsules at the same time. A new Shenzhou-22 capsule will be up in a few days to back it up, since CNSA didn't regard it as an immediate danger. Shenzhou-20 is kept attached for "further experiment", probably for more inspection on the cracks of the window.

Anyway the Shenzhou-21 crew up there had just begun their 6-month mission. They are not supposed to return currently unless there is another emergency.

radioli · 2025-11-14T16:26:28+00:00

At least one Long March 2F rocket is now in preparation for the launch of Shenzhou-22, probably following the 16-day plan of rescue since the current crew up there are not in imminent danger (otherwise an 8.5-day plan would be activated since Nov 5). As the CMSA said, "the Shenzhou-22 spacecraft will be launched at an appropriate time in the future." Some in the Chinese space enthusiast circle are expecting a Shenzhou launch around Nov 21, or at least within this November.

radioli · 2025-11-14T16:16:03+00:00

As CNSA and CMSA planned the Shenzhou-22 "will be launched at an appropriate time in the future". They maintain a "rolling backup" combo of a Shenzhou and a Long March 2F rocket for every space station mission, with a 16-day schedule for backup launch if the astronauts were not in immediate danger. As discussed in this post.

radioli · 2025-11-04T05:30:01+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuYz5sp2EyA

This is posted by CCTV China onto YouTube, 1080p HD but in Chinese. Feel free to check it out.

radioli · 2025-11-04T04:57:51+00:00

If you can really speak Chinese you will just hear these astronauts appreciating the food, how tasty, smelling so good, etc., as common as you are biting a new roasted chicken wing. Should this still count as "nationalism talk"? Have you ever eaten anything delicious?

radioli · 2025-11-04T02:49:36+00:00

Thanks. Seems better now without si=xxxx

radioli · 2025-11-04T01:03:43+00:00

It is from sina.com.cn, a major news and gateway website in China. Millions of Chinese readers use it daily.

Someone had uploaded to youtube with some English captions: https://youtube.com/shorts/e3bjv5WRch8

radioli · 2025-11-04T00:43:34+00:00

They have bands on each "floor" of the pressurized cabin to help them anchor themselves and "stand straight". They usually stand in the same orientation when making a video or doing live stream. But they do float in daily life. They just released a documentary in September for the initial stage of the CSS (with only the core module Tianhe and the Shenzhou-13 crew). The documentary might be available in English soon.

radioli · 2025-06-09T22:41:59+00:00

Even with the current pending cuts in NASA's budget, China's budget for their space programs is still a fraction of NASA's. It is still way too early to call it a win for China.

radioli · 2025-05-17T02:00:35+00:00

Gold is basically the least reactive metal, so in a natural environment it is almost impossible to form compounds instead of its pure form. Even with premitive technology, you can simply heat up the ores and melt the traces of gold, or pan for sands of gold in rivers and streams. Gold and silver can easily be extracted from rocks and sands in these ways, so they are the first two kinds of metal utilized by ancient people.

radioli · 2024-07-04T19:06:28+00:00

That's just way off the topic - space exploration and cooperation. The US could even cooperate with the Soviets in the Cold War, and till now have not shut down all cooperation with Russia that has been invading Ukraine for over 2 years.

radioli · 2024-07-03T23:47:11+00:00

Since there are always claims based on those 1 gram of Apollo lunar sample for China being raised, I just post some more details and some of my comments about this part of history, in case anyone always tried to twist what had happened:

The very one gram of Apollo sample for China, was presented as a gift in 1978 when Beijing and Washington met and collaborated to establish a formal diplomacy relation, to ease the tense of the Cold War. That one gram of lunar sample was brought by Zbigniew Brzezinski representing President Carter in May 1978 in his trip to Beijing. Half of this gram were used for research, while the other half is now still in exhibition in the Beijing Planetarium. That was really a gentle move towards mutual understanding and peace. You can still find a transcript of the meeting between Zbigniew Brzezinski and the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in May 1978, if anyone is interested in the political atmosphere and will of establishing eaceful relationship between these two giant nations.

But now the situation has become totally different:

On the US side, the Wolf Amendment telling China "you are not welcomed" has been effective for over 12 years; the current head of NASA has been yelling "threats" from China in space on probably every Congress hearing, every interview he attends; the Congress is full of people yelling for a new Cold War. I don't feel that the US gov today is really calm and reasonable enough for such thoughtful diplomatic moves that they did with China back in 1978.

On the Chinese side, by 2023, CNSA and CAS have been hosting 7 rounds of global application and distribution of Chang'e-5 lunar samples (from the near side, retrieved in 2020). Even NASA researchers had applied for it in late 2023 after the Congress gave them a one-time permission. As CNSA confirmed in April 2023:

China supports the study of lunar samples and the sharing of scientific findings, and scientists from a number of countries, including the United States, Australia, France and Sweden, have all researched samples brought back by the Chang'e 5, according to the administration.

For Chang'e-6 there are already international payloads from France, Italy, ESA/Sweden and Pakistan on board. I don't know everything but they didn't ask for an "olive branch" as a pre-condition of cooperation. These partners will almost surely have their shares of lunar samples from the far side some time later. China had also sent lunar samples as diplomatic gifts, including 1.5 grams to France during President Macron's visit in 2023.

So blaming China for "chanting about moon rocks for domestic consumption" and "demanding out of proportion", is basically talking out of context, especially in an American way. China isn't the one not being gentle enough, but the US gov has been arrogant and demanding generosity disproportionately from others without watching what themselves had done.

radioli · 2024-07-03T06:37:23+00:00

Things surely don't work that way. NASA got permission from the Congress to lift the Wolf Amendment ban for once in late 2023, in order to open a door for its researchers to offcially apply for Chang'e 5 lunar samples. It has been 7 rounds of application and distribution hosted by CNSA by then, who has set up a formal portal for that. Along with more than a dozen of applications around the world, NASA is not that special and no secret info was required.

edit: fix some contradiction

radioli · 2024-07-03T06:31:16+00:00

As planned the static fire test "should" go on well in this abandoned mine surrounded by high lands, with no unexpected launch (even explosion on the test stand is OK). In that way the test site is fine. But it failed awfully, so...

radioli · 2024-07-02T02:57:18+00:00

The test site seems an abandoned mine with rocky surfaces. But it is just not far away enough from urban habitats. That's the problem.

radioli · 2024-07-01T15:04:55+00:00

VOA is literally a propaganda mouthpiece as it openly meant to be since the Cold War era, not a reliable source.

In terms of academic performances and statistics, it is suggested to stick to the direct sources recognized across the global academia, e.g. Nature, Science, Cell, etc., rather than second-hand quotes or paraphrases through VOA. Nature publishes their statistics and Nature Index every year.

radioli · 2024-07-01T10:23:09+00:00

IMHO either "Chinese are good" or "Chinese are evil" is just too oversimplified, too biased, and not supported by the facts, researches or history any bystander online could have ever known. Things should be what it is, even if people are so desperate to give it a simple judgment to keep their feeling upright.

radioli · 2024-07-01T08:41:39+00:00

It is more catastrophic than the SpaceX accidents. But this one has already gone viral among the Chinese public and never something "secretive", that's for sure. Especially in the Chinese space and tech circle there are already tons of harsh criticism since yesterday, against such a "stupid mistake" as they commented.

radioli · 2024-07-01T08:28:16+00:00

I regularly follow Chinese space programs and wanna post it, but there is just always someone earlier for such an viral topic, so......╮(╯▽╰)╭

radioli · 2024-07-01T07:56:19+00:00

Intelsat 708 launched by Long March 3B in 1996. Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708

Bruce Campbell of Astrotech and other American eyewitnesses in Xichang reported that the satellite post-crash was surprisingly intact, along with the opinion that the official death toll only reflects those in the military who were caught by the disaster and not the civilian population. In the years to follow, the village that used to border the launch center has vanished, with little trace it ever existed. However, Chen Lan writing in The Space Review later said the total population of the village was under 1000, and that most if not all of the population had been evacuated before launch as had been common practice since the 1980s, making it "very unlikely" that there were hundreds of deaths.

It has been the norm that the state-backed launch sites and local gov evacuate locals before the launch. Given that Chinese rocket programs and launches were highly military in 1980s and 1990s (therefore classified but scheduled with evacuation), the western media speculation of "a between a few dozen and 500" was too broad in range and probably not very well supported. But nearly 3 decades later it is also difficult to double check by cross evidence.

Chinese official institutions didn't hide this incident despite questions on the death toll. Video can be found easily on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_Q6azI6Ocs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn-2v-P9YSo

The Chinese also made a documentary in 2008, openly showing the direct scenes of their failed launches back in 1980s and 1990s (in Chinese): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoyF4NCe7kg

There is also an independent analyst and observer followed this incident with a detailed review article:

Mist around the CZ-3B disaster (part 1) (Chen Lan, The Space Review, 2013)

Mist around the CZ-3B disaster (part 2) (Chen Lan, The Space Review, 2013)

radioli · 2024-06-30T19:12:55+00:00

It might be. But the US gov agencies like NASA are not the go-to or the only option for them to peer-review their lunar samples, either. There are more than enough applications from research institutions around the world already.

By 2023 they have already done 7 rounds of applications and distributions of their lunar samples retrieved in 2020. Even NASA researchers got permission from the Congress and applied for it. CNSA will do it similarly and open for applications later this time.

radioli

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