China News Agency, Beijing, April 23rd: Dialogue between Chinese and European Scholars | How can human beings join hands to go to the "Vast Starry Sky"?
China News Agency reporter Wan Shuyan
Farewell to the Chinese Space Station after 183 days of work and life, Chinese astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu returned to Earth safely on April 16.
The Chinese space station, which is planned to be fully completed this year, will be built into a scientific and technological cooperation platform open to the international community.
Exploration of the vast universe and peaceful use of space are the common cause and dream of all mankind. How will mankind work together in the future?
Yang Yuguang, researcher of the Second Academy of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation and vice chairman of the International Astronautical Union Space Transportation Committee, Giuseppe Reibaldi, chairman of the Moon Village Association and executive secretary of the Global Expert Group on Sustainable Lunar Activities (GEGSLA), recently In the "East and West Questions" column of China News Agency, we have a dialogue and interpretation.
On April 16, 2022, the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft return capsule successfully landed in the predetermined area of the Dongfeng Landing Site.
Photo by Zhang Jie issued by China News Agency
China News Service: Recently, three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth after their 183-day "business trip" on the Chinese space station. How to evaluate the performance of the three astronauts in space?
Giuseppe Ribaldi
: The three Chinese astronauts performed well using the most advanced modules of the Chinese space station.
China's space technology development is faster than that of the West because China has long-term plans to put all the required actions in place to achieve a specific goal.
The Chinese Space Station is a state-of-the-art space station, which draws on the experience of the International Space Station, which can be seen from the time it takes to build the Space Station. The International Space Station took dozens of flights and more than 10 years to build, while the Chinese Space Station only needs It takes a few flights and 2 to 3 years to build.
Of course, space stations vary in size and complexity, but a "small" space station is more economical and efficient than a large space station like the International Space Station.
The International Space Station was designed in the 1990s, and the Chinese Space Station was about 20 years later.
Yang Yuguang
: The three astronauts successfully completed the mission, marking the successful conclusion of the key technology verification stage of the Chinese Space Station.
The core task is to verify the astronaut's residence time in orbit and whether it can work normally.
Shenzhou 11 completed a one-month stay in orbit, Shenzhou 12 completed three months, and Shenzhou 13 completed six months.
Six months will be the normalized residency period for astronauts during the operation of the space station.
The three astronauts insisted on exercising with fitness equipment in space. After returning to the flight, they were in good condition and full of energy.
Secondly, the environmental control and life support system is verified, which is the key technology to ensure the life of astronauts in space.
Astronauts stay on the space station for a long time, and it is expensive to transport supplies from Earth to space.
The environmental control and life protection technology makes resources renewable, such as the recycling of water resources, which can purify sweat, urine, etc. for drinking, which can greatly reduce the frequency of cargo spaceships, and at the same time, more transportation space can be reserved for scientific experiments.
In addition, the latest sky-earth round-trip technology has been verified.
For the first time, the Chinese manned spacecraft adopts the fast return mode, and the whole journey takes only more than 9 hours, while it took about a day before.
Behind the acceleration is a series of complex technologies and operations.
Many core key technologies have been verified.
Shen XIII and Tianhe core module completed a fully autonomous radial rendezvous and docking.
The robotic arm of the Chinese space station successfully translocated a cargo spacecraft for the first time.
For the first time, Chinese astronauts manually operated Tianzhou-2 to rendezvous with the space station.
The Shen 13 crew completed two out-of-vehicle activities, and Wang Yaping took the first step in Chinese women's extravehicular spacewalk.
The two crews of Shen 12 and Shen 13 conducted 4 extravehicular activities for a total of 8 people, fully verifying the second-generation Feitian extravehicular space suits.
The three astronauts turned into "space teachers", brought two wonderful space classes to elementary and middle school students on Earth, and also brought space classes to the United States.
China-US space cooperation has great potential, and this move will definitely encourage more young people to explore the universe together.
On the afternoon of December 9, 2021, the "Tiangong Classroom" of the Chinese Space Station will give its first lecture.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Hou Yu
China News Service reporter: China's space station opened its doors to the world at the beginning of its construction. Nine projects from 17 countries became the first batch of selected projects for the China Space Station Science Experiment. What contribution can international cooperation make to human exploration of space?
Giuseppe Ribaldi
: Space exploration is tough, and international cooperation is the only realistic way to move forward in a sustainable way.
China has opened its space station to the world from the very beginning, which is very positive.
Many countries and organizations, including the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, have participated in these experiments, some of which are developing countries, and their participation is very important to the building of space exploration capabilities.
In addition, international cooperation in space can promote a better understanding of each other among nations for peaceful life on Earth.
Yang Yuguang
: China's space station will be built into a scientific and technological cooperation platform open to the international community in the future, benefiting all mankind.
The Chinese space station is equipped with international standard interfaces when it is built, which is used by various countries to carry out various scientific experiments.
The first batch of nine experiments selected is just the beginning, and the Chinese space station will carry out more and deeper international cooperation in the follow-up.
China News Service reporter: Exploring the vast universe and peaceful use of space is the common cause and dream of all mankind, which can cross nationalities, regions and races. How should countries work together to explore space and make good use of the common space resources of mankind?
Giuseppe Ribaldi
: International cooperation is intensifying, which can reduce costs, more and more countries have access to space technology, and trust in cooperation will become more important.
Taking the exploration and utilization of the moon as an example, the concept of the moon village allows all nations to participate in this extraordinary human undertaking, with each nation having its own plans, as long as they are willing to cooperate.
Therefore, we need to establish a lunar coordination mechanism within the framework of the United Nations, so that countries have a common level playing field on issues such as information sharing, space resources, space debris, and interoperability.
The European Space Agency and the China National Space Administration have many cooperations in the field of science. Some European astronauts have completed some preliminary training in China. In the future, European astronauts may work in the Chinese space station.
The future of space cooperation will depend on the international political landscape, but I hope this international cooperation will increase.
Yang Yuguang
: Space exploration is inseparable from international cooperation.
International cooperation can reduce costs and decision-making thresholds, promote the development of space technology in various countries, and then benefit all mankind.
There will only be more and more international cooperation in space in the future, with a deeper level of cooperation and a wider scope of cooperation.
Carrying out international cooperation is a long-standing tradition of China Aerospace.
At the end of the 20th century, China launched the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite 01.
Chang'e-4 carried scientific payloads from Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.
China and Europe and China and Russia have long-term cooperative relations. Chinese astronauts have been to Moscow for training, and Chinese and European astronauts have been to each other's territory for training.
The China-Italy cooperation electromagnetic monitoring test satellite "Zhangheng-1" and the China-France Ocean Satellite have been successfully launched.
There are four levels of international cooperation in China's manned spaceflight.
The first level is the joint experiment, which is also the most important form of cooperation at present. For example, the Shenzhou 8 spacecraft is loaded with devices for Sino-German joint space life science experiments; the second level is the visit of foreign astronauts; the third level is the visit of foreign spacecraft to China Space station; the fourth level is the docking of foreign modules to the Chinese space station.
The Tiangong space station has reserved expansion interfaces, and has the ability to dock expansion modules on the basis of the three-cabin configuration. In the future, it can be expanded from the "T" configuration to the "dry" configuration as needed.
Data map: Tianhe core cabin.
Image source: Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group
China News Service: As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues and the conflict between the United States and Russia deepens, can the International Space Station be delayed until 2030? What role will the International Space Station and the Chinese Space Station play in the future? Can astronauts exchange visits?
Giuseppe Ribaldi
: The International Space Station and the Chinese Space Station can cooperate in the short term while conducting scientific investigations to increase statistical results.
The main problem with microgravity research is that there are fewer statistical results, and by conducting parallel investigations on the same subject, the statistical data can be increased, providing more reliable results.
The possibility of exchanging crews between the two space stations exists, even if the technology is complicated due to the different orbits.
The main obstacle to cooperation at present is political will.
I hope that before the decommissioning of the International Space Station, there will be a possibility of mutual astronaut visits between the two sides.
After 2030, private space stations are expected, and the possibility of mutual visits by astronauts for safety reasons needs to be confirmed as soon as possible, like ships at sea.
Yang Yuguang
: Previously, the United States and Russia tried to extend the life of the International Space Station to 2030.
As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues, both the United States and Russia have revealed signs of possible "separation".
However, it is very difficult to "separate" at the operational level.
Although the International Space Station is jointly built by 16 countries, the United States and Russia occupy the most modules.
The Russian cabin is fully equipped and can be operated independently when leaving.
If the American cabin leaves the Russian cabin, the propulsion system will be lost. The United States needs to build a new propulsion cabin as soon as possible, otherwise there will be a crash crisis.
Even after the International Space Station is decommissioned, other space stations will emerge.
Commercial aerospace in the United States and other aerospace powers has developed rapidly. At present, the low-orbit space station technology has matured. Commercial aerospace companies such as Nanoracks and Axiom can build commercial space stations for space tourism.
On March 27, 2022, the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft completed all the scheduled tasks in the space station assembly stage and evacuated the space station core module assembly.
Image source: Visual China
China News Agency reporter: The United Nations advocates "global space sharing". Today's world is no longer an era of "one family is the only one and one self is the only one". How should international space cooperation expand the breadth and depth and explore a high-level space cooperation model?
Giuseppe Ribaldi
: Humans have been looking up at the stars since ancient times, eager to realize the dream of space travel.
We have the opportunity to leverage the skills of many people around the world.
Space exploration is going on and everyone can participate.
Space agencies and NGOs around the world have a moral obligation to carry out important outreach activities for this purpose.
As for the high-level cooperation model, there is no "one size fits all", and each project will have specific cooperation methods.
In this regard, the United Nations is and will continue to play a central role in order to involve as many countries as possible.
Yang Yuguang
: At present, a relatively mature cooperation and consultation mechanism has been established among the aerospace powers, including bilateral and multilateral exchange and cooperation mechanisms.
The road of international cooperation will be broader in the future.
And how can countries that have not been deeply involved in space exploration in the past, or do not have a complete space industry, participate?
This requires strengthening international cooperation. These countries can jointly launch spacecraft with space powers, and can also participate in space scientific experiments, so as to benefit from space exploration and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind in the field of outer space.
All countries in the world, especially the major aerospace powers, should abandon political interference and enhance exchanges and understanding in order to consolidate the foundation of mutual trust for cooperation.
At the same time, strengthen bilateral and multilateral exchange mechanisms, organize more international aerospace conferences for exchanges, and promote more commercial aerospace cooperation.
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Interviewee Profile:
A group photo of Yang Yuguang and Giuseppe Ribaldi.
Image source: Photo courtesy of the interviewee
Yang Yuguang, researcher of the Second Academy of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, vice chairman of the International Astronautical Federation Space Transportation Committee, editorial board member of "The Astronaut" magazine and "Space Exploration" magazine, and China's aerospace science ambassador.
The research results have won one National Science and Technology Progress Special Award, two provincial and ministerial science and technology advancement awards, more than 750 cooperation with provincial and ministerial-level media for aerospace science popularization and publicity, and maintain long-term contact with more than 800 international friends in the aerospace field. communicate with.
Giuseppe Reibaldi, President of the Moon Village Association, Executive Secretary of the Global Expert Group on Sustainable Lunar Activities (GEGSLA), Executive Secretary of the Hague Outer Space Resource Governance Working Group, and Senior Space Policy Advisor.
Since 2013, he has also served as the director of the Human Spaceflight Department of the International Academy of Astronautics.
He worked for the European Space Agency for 35 years (1977-2012) and published more than 80 books.