Upon completion of all space docking tests on Tiangong-1, the module will conduct a controlled descent to re-enter the atmosphere and into a designated maritime area. “Tiangong-1 will leave no junk in space, and will have no impact on Earth,” assured Yang Hong, chief designer of Tiangong-1.

The design of Tiangong-1 is human-oriented, with a 15-cubic-meter activity space that can meet the work and living needs of up to three astronauts and has already taken up some of the daily necessities that the astronauts will need, ready for the coming of the astronauts.

Besides devices moderating temperature, humidity, pressure and oxygen, “weapons” to fight against the microbe and the traces of toxic gas have been deployed in Tiangong-1. Waste is recycled, with urine being treated so that it can be reused as drinking water, while water can be turned into oxygen for the astronauts to breathe. Experimental space foods, including meat, fruit, vegetables, and dehydrated soup, have been sent up and will be examined by researchers once returned to Earth in order to develop more choices and better flavors for the astronauts. Two sleep stations are equipped with separate lighting systems that can be adjusted by the astronauts and specifically designed sleeping bags and thermal underwear, and the interior walls have a two-color paint scheme, with one color representing the ground, and the other representing the sky, to help the astronauts stay orientated zero gravity.

This is all for the well-being of the astronauts who will be living in the module for much longer than in previous Shenzhou missions. They will also have exercise equipment at their disposal to prevent the muscle atrophy that occurs in microgravity.

The team has sent a Chinese Knot up with Tiangong-1, representing their good wishes for the project, along with 300 International Astronautical Federation (IAF) flags. In December 2010, the same 300 flags were sent to the International Space Station by Russian manned spacecraft TMA-20, and were brought back by U.S. space shuttle Endeavour in June this year, after which they were given to the China Manned Space Engineering Project (CMSE) delegation by the IAF at the Paris Air Show. Berndt Feuerbacher, president of IAF, remarked that it is time for China’s Tiangong-1 to send these flags into space again. The flags will return to Earth once more with the astronaut that completes China’s first piloted rendezvous and docking connection.

International Cooperation in Space

Wu Ping said that international exchange and cooperation in the field of aerospace engineering should be intensified for mutual benefits.

China has carried out comprehensive cooperation and exchange with a number of countries and the IAF. On the Shenzhou-7 Manned Space Flight, two astronauts wore the Feitian extravehicular space suit from China and the Sea Hawk extravehicular space suit from Russia when outside the spacecraft, and China and Germany plan to carry out experiments on space life science on Shenzhou-8 spacecraft. A Chinese scientist and five international peers also participated in Russia’s Mars-500 Program, an Earth-based experiment simulating a manned expedition to Mars.

Tiangong-1 will reach an altitude of about 350 kilometers after two orbiting manoeuvres. It will carry out in-orbit testing and wait for the arrival of the Shenzhou-8 Unmanned Spacecraft before the end of the year, when the two vehicles will form one complex. They will fly for 12 days and conduct a second rendezvous and docking procedure, after which Shenzhou-8 will return to Earth, leaving Tiangong-1 in its long-term operational mode. Before the end of 2012, China will launch Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 for further tests of unmanned or manned space rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-1. By 2016, China will have launched its space laboratory, and will have its own space station in the year 2020.

“China will turn its future space station into an international platform for space research and application. China’s ultimate intention for developing space technology is to explore space resources and make use of them for mankind’s well-being,” Zhou said.