Shenzhou-7 astronnaut starts assembling space suit for spacewalk
26/9/2008 18:02
Astronaut aboard the Shenzhou-7 spacecraft, China's third manned
spaceship, began to unpack and assemble the indigenous Feitian extra-vehicular
activity (EVA) suit at 10:20 am today in preparation for the first
spacewalk.
As of 11:51 a.m., the spaceship which blasted off at 9:10 pm
yesterday at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern Gansu Province,
has made 11 orbits around the earth as scheduled.
Physical conditions of the
three astronauts who are in duty shift, all stay normal.
Zhai Zhigang and Liu
Boming took on assembling in the orbital module while Jing Haipeng stayed in the
re-entry module to keep a eye on the vessel operation.
Feitian, which
literally means flying the sky, has 10 layers and weighs about 120 kilograms.
The domestically-made suit costs 30 million yuan (about US$4.4 million), and
takes up to 15 hours for astronaut to assemble and put on.
According to Wu
Bin, director of the astronaut training research institute under the China
Astronaut Training Center, the astronauts have to unpack the suit which was
fixed on the interiol wall of the orbital module. The unpacking procedure can be
broken down to 12 steps, of which every step will be implemented with the help
of the pincers.
After assembling, the replaceable parts including the
purifier, oxygen bottle, batteries and remote control instruments will be
installed on the suit.
The astronaut will have to adjust the size of the suit
and test its obturation and functions after donning the suit. The procedure will
be aided by another astronaut to ensure everything goes well, Wu said.
Since
the astronaut will grew "fatter" after putting on the bulky suit, the re-entry
module is built with an enlarged door of 850-millimeter-diameter, deputy chief
designer of the spacecraft system Qi Yufeng told Xinhua.
A commander-in-chief
post was for first time set up in the Shenzhou-7, which will be assigned to the
No.1 astronaut, who will walk into the space. He will be assisted during
tomorrow's spacewalk by the No. 2 astronaut, who will stay in the orbital module
during the process. The No. 3 astronaut will stay in the re-entry
module.
Yang Liwei, who piloted China's maiden space flight in 2003 has said
the intensive psychological shock would be unavoidable for the Shenzhou-7
astronaut when he moved out of the capsule.
Since the operation was highly
automatic, it was the psychological factor other than the manual operation that
decided the success of the mission, Yang said.Psychology would affect the
mission greatly notably when space walking, which was heavily relied on the
astronaut's self-initiative.
The No. 2 astronaut will wear a different space
suit, the Orlan space suit provided by a Russian supplier.
According to a
contract signed in April, 2004, a Russia company provides three Orlan suits, two
low-pressure training suits, four suits for underwater training, and four sets
of docking systems in the craft. The Chinese side is responsible for providing
power and communications equipment for some of the EVA suits.
"The active
collaboration of the two countries in areas like astronauts training and the
development of spacecraft have boosted the advancement of China's manned space
industry," Wang Zhaoyao, spokesman with China's manned space program has
said.
If Shenzhou-7 mission is successful, China will become the third
country after United States and Russia to accomplish a spacewalk, a crucial
capacity if China is to have its own permanent space station.
The space
environment forecast center under the China Academy of Sciences said today that
the space environment was sound and safe for the spacewalk between Sept.
26-28.
Xinhua
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