Chinese Scientists Sure About Features of Shenzhou-11 Spacecraft
CCTV+
Published on Aug 13, 2016
China's Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft has arrived at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Saturday, readying itself for liftoff later in the year for a docking with the country's manned first space lab Tiangong-2.
Tiangong-2 will be launched in September, to be followed by Shenzhou-11 with two astronauts on board.
Before departing for Jiuquan, Shenzhou-11 has allowed a brief peek for China Central Television to get some rough ideas about its similarities and differences with its predecessors.
Like its predecessors, Shenzhou-11 also has three modules, namely the orbital module, the returning capsule and the propelling module. Though it is designed with three cabins for as many astronauts, Shenzhou-11 will be launched with just two astronauts on board.
"It's a manned spacecraft. If there are fewer people on board, we can transport more cargo in the stead for to-go and to-come-back trips with materials for space experimentation," says Zheng Wei, assistant chief designer of spacecraft system with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
Shenzhou-11 will dock with Tiangong-2 for a joint 30-day space flight, which will be longest manned space flight for China. It is therefore also a test for the spacecraft itself.
"Shenzhou-II has inherited all the tried and true features of its predecessors of Shenzhou-8, -9 and -10. It is therefore of confirmed stability, higher reliability and more maturity," Zheng adds.