 |
China Carries Out Automated Space Docking
China has successfully carried out an automated docking between a manned Shenzhou-9 spacecraft and the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft.
(China's first automatic space docking)
The spacecraft blasted off on Saturday for a 13-day mission. China’s first female space explorer, 33-year-old Liu Yang, is among the three crew members.Monday’s docking with the Tiangong-1 orbital module is the third such maneuver performed by the Chinese, although it has not previously been done by a manned spacecraft.
Prominent Russian space expert Igor Lisov said the docking was very efficient, and the speed and accuracy was even greater than when Russian Soyuz and Progress spacrafts dock to the ISS. Lisov also noted that this latest success means that China is closer than ever to the two leading 'space nations' – Russia and the US.
China has been making great progress since sending its first astronaut (or taikonaut) into space in 2003. China's earliest efforts in rocketry in the 1950's (sponsored by Russia) faltered after the Sino-Soviet split in 1960. An effort to compete in the race to the moon followed in 1967, but did not survive the death of Mao in 1976, when programs were stopped or slowed.
The first science fiction writer that I recall predicting great success for China's space program was Arthur C. Clarke. In his excellent 1980 novel 2010: Odyssey Two, Clarke had the Chinese ship Tsien arriving in Jupiter's orbit along with the joint American-Russian team.
Tsien had closed down all voice, video, and data circuits two hours before, as the long-range antennas were withdrawn into the protective shadow of the heat shield. Only the omnidirectional beacon was still transmitting, accurately pinpointing the Chinese ship's position as it plunged toward that ocean of continent-sized clouds...
Via RT.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 6/18/2012)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Space Tech ")
NASA's LADEE Enters Lunar Orbit
'... dust normally on the surface picks up and keeps a charge.' - Hal Clement, 1956.
Nuclear Interceptors Designed For Planetary Protection
See NASA's concept for a nuclear interceptor.
SpaceX Grasshopper Divert Video
Isn't this the way that rocket ships were meant to land?
Ultrasonic Noise Betrays ISS Leaks
Gentlemen, Be Seated!
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Current News
Army's New Bird-Like Surveillance UAV
'The prototype blue-bellied, gray-backed tracer-bird with the wide-angle eye...'
Honda's Tumblebug - The UNI-CUB beta
'A tumblebug does not give a man dignity...'
NASA's LADEE Enters Lunar Orbit
'... dust normally on the surface picks up and keeps a charge.'
3D Printing An Entire Car
"... Almost as good as the original it was printed from."
Aldebaran Robot Talks Like C3PO - Almost
'See Vee Threepio - Vee for versatility - at your service...'
Google's Skin Tattoo Lie Detector
'Three and a half centimetres in diameter, permanently fixed in the centre of his forehead.'
inFORM Dynamic Shape Output Device
Like that pushpin device you remember, but supercharged.
Owlet Vitals, The Future Of Baby Monitoring
'In every diaper there is a fine copper wire...'
Robert Heinlein, Your Personal Electric Helicopter Will Be Ready In 2016
"They were half way home when a single flyer, hopping free in a copter harness, approached the little parade."
WildCat Runs Faster Than You, Untethered
'...moving with such drifting ease that it was like a single solid cloud of black-grey smoke blown at him in silence.' Almost.
HiBot's ACM-R5H Robot Video Shows Graceful Terminator-Style Swimming
'No! No! Aaaaaaarrrrrrgh!'
tDCS Jumpstarts Your Future
'We invented a scanner that can change the labyrinthine neural connections of the brain by tiny electronic impulses...'.
RealView Interactive Live Medical Holography
Surgeons can see an organ in its entirety in a live image.
Britney Spears And Lynn Minmay - Weapons Of Choice
An attack can take many forms.
Aireal Haptics Inching Towards Holodeck Experience
How to feel something that isn't there?
Starchase Pursuit Management ala Star Wars
Yes, but does it follow evil doers through hyperspace?
