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China's Next Manned Spaceflight Enters Final Prep Phase.
Main objectives
Chinese space officials have noted that Shenzhou 10 will be the first "operational" flight in the Chinese human spaceflight program, with four main objectives:
- To ferry a crew and materials between the ground and the Tiangong 1 module and test the performance of the Shenzhou human capsule and its docking system;
- To further test the crew's ability to fly, live and work in the Shenzhou-Tiangong spacecraft complex;
- To demonstrate the adaptability and efficiency of the crew in the space environment and broadcast a classroom lesson to Chinese students;
- To further test the coordination among different systems in the human spaceflight program.
Female astronaut candidate
Zhou Jianping, chief engineer of China's manned space program, told news media in March that one of the three astronauts onboard Shenzhou 10 will include a woman.
While the names of the Shenzhou 10 crew remain unknown, and are typically not released until a few days before the mission, Wang Yaping is being spotlighted by Chinese media as the only female astronaut candidate being considered for the Shenzhou 10 spacecraft.
Born in 1980 in the eastern coastal city of Yantai, Shandong Province, Wang is a People's Liberation Army Air Force pilot.
In March 2010, China completed the process of selecting a new group of astronauts for its human spaceflight program: Seven Air-Force pilots, including five men and two women, were selected as the astronaut candidates. Wang was one of the two female candidates selected from 15 finalists.
Shenzhou 10 will be China's fifth manned space mission. The first Chinese astronaut, Yang Liwei, flew to orbit in 2003. Before this mission, eight Chinese astronauts — including one woman, Liu Yang — have gone into space.
Steady progress
"As China's human space program continues its steady progress towards the construction of a small space station — scheduled to be completed around the end of the decade — international interest in the program appears to be waning," said Gregory Kulacki, senior analyst and China project manager for the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. [How China's First Space Station Will Work (Infographic)]
Kulacki said that, of all the elements of the mission being talked about in the Chinese press prior to the Shenzhou 10 launch, the educational activities planned for the flight are gaining the most attention. The three-person crew plans to broadcast lessons on space science and exploration to Chinese students across the country.
"China's human spaceflight program now seems to be less threatening to U.S. observers who originally viewed the program with some suspicion," Kulacki said. "More relaxed U.S. attitudes about the program, combined with the slow but steady pace of Chinese progress in human spaceflight, may create opportunities for U.S.-Chinese cooperation and collaboration in space."
However, NASA is currently barred by Congress from collaborating directly with the Chinese space agency.
