中国成功完成首次载人交会对接

China Completes First Manned Space Docking

 

WSJ June 18 - China successfully achieved its first manned space docking, an important step in the country's quest to launch a space station by around 2020.The Shenzhou-9 spacecraft on Monday docked with China's Tiangong-1 space laboratory. The mission's three astronauts included China's first woman in space, an air force pilot named Liu Yang.

China's political leadership has heavily promoted this week's mission as proof of the country's growing clout. Additionally, the Shenzhou-9 mission reinforced China's long-term aspirations for a manned space presence just as the U.S. has significantly drawn down its own manned space program and retired its ageing fleet of space shuttles.

The Shenzhou-9 mission is the first time China has sent a person into space since 2008. It follows China's first unmanned space docking last November and is the latest step in a 30-year plan to assemble a space station by around 2020, part of an effort known as Project 921.

When Chinese leaders approved a plan for a space station in 1992, 'Chinese space professionals believed they would be latecomers to an expanding human presence in low Earth orbit,' said Gregory Kulacki, a senior analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists, in a recent research note. 'Ironically, by the time they finish their space station in the early 2020s, the Chinese might be the only people left up there.'

Washington's decision to end the shuttle program left Russia with a virtual monopoly over manned spaceflight. China's space program, while decades behind the achievements of the U.S. and Russia, has made steady progress in recent years. Its planned space station is expected to come online around 2020, just as the $100 billion International Space Station is expected to cease operation. The U.S., meanwhile, is hoping the private sector can pick up where the shuttle program left off.

Analysts say now that docking technology has been achieved, other significant hurdles to establishing a space station include the logistics of keeping humans alive in space for extended periods of time. A Chinese space station's launch will also rely in part on the successful development of the Long March-5 rocket, which officials have said will make its maiden flight in 2014.

Unlike in the U.S., where civilian and military space programs are by and large kept separate, China's space program is run by the People's Liberation Army. U.S. defense officials and analysts, have expressed concern about a lack of transparency, and the potential for China's space program to contribute to the country's growing military capabilities.

'The space program, including ostensible civil projects, supports China's growing ability to deny or degrade the space assets of potential adversaries and enhances China's conventional military capabilities,' said Lt. Gen. Ronald L. Burgess Jr., director of the Defense Intelligence Agency during a Senate testimony in February.

In particular, according to the Pentagon, Beijing continues to develop antisatellite capabilities, which first received international attention after a 2007 missile test in which China shot down one of its own weather satellites. Additionally, according to defense analysts, China is developing the high-resolution optical imaging and near-real-time data-communication systems that will allow it to monitor U.S. naval activity in the Asia-Pacific.

Beijing also is seeking to cut its reliance on the U.S. Global Positioning System, which the U.S. could in theory deny access to in the event of a conflict. China's indigenous Beidou positioning system, which began offering initial services to China and surrounding areas late last year, is expected to have dual military and civilian usages.

中国成功完成首次载人交会对接

2012年 06月 18日

中国成功完成了其航天器的首次载人交会对接任务，这是中国欲在2020年前后发射空间站计划的重要一步。周一，神州九号飞船与天宫一号空间实验室成功对接。中国这次派出了三名航天员，其中包括中国首位女航天员刘洋。刘洋是空军飞行员。

中国政治领导人对于这次航天任务大加赞扬，认为这是中国影响力与日俱增的明证。此外，神州九号的航天任务进一步坚定了中国在载人航天领域的长期抱负。而与此同时，美国已经大力缩减了载人航天计划的规模，并且让日益老化的航天飞机机群退役。

神州九号是2008年以来中国首次发射载人飞船。在发射神舟九号之前，中国于去年11月成功完成了航天器的无人交会对接任务。神州九号载人对接任务是中国准备在2020年前后完成空间站建设的30年计划的最新步骤。建设空间站是中国“921工程”的一部分。

忧思科学家联盟(Union of Concerned Scientists)高级分析师顾克冈(Gregory Kulacki)在最近一份研究报告中说，中国领导人1992年批准空间站计划时，中国航天专业人士认为，在日益增多的近地轨道载人航天活动中他们是后来者。顾克冈说，具有讽刺意味的是，到21世纪20年代初中国建成自己的空间站时，中国航天员可能是留在太空里的唯一地球人。

美国终止航天飞机计划的决定让俄罗斯在载人航天领域基本处于垄断地位。中国的航天项目虽比美国和俄罗斯落后几十年，但近年来却不断取得进展。中国打算在2020年前后建成自己的空间站并投入使用，预计那时造价1,000亿美元的国际空间站(International Space Station)将停止运营。此外，美国目前希望私营部门能重拾美国航天飞机项目未完成的航天事业。

分析人士说，掌握交会对接技术后，中国在建立空间站方面面临的其它重大障碍包括为航天员长期驻留太空提供后勤补给等。此外，中国能否成功发射空间站一定程度上还取决于长征五号运载火箭能否研制成功。中国官员说，该火箭将于2014年进行首次发射。

在美国，民用航天项目和军用航天项目同通常是分开的，但中国的情况不同，航天项目都由中国人民解放军(People's Liberation Army)控制。美国的国防官员和分析人士对中国航天项目缺乏透明度以及这一项目有可能增强中方军力表达了关切。

美国国防情报局(Defense Intelligence Agency)局长伯吉斯(Ronald L. Burgess Jr.)在今年2月份参议院的一次听证会上说，中国的航天项目──包括表面上看来属民用的航天项目──提高了中国打击或压制潜在对手太空资产的能力，强化了中国常规军力。

美国国防部尤其指出的是，中国政府在继续提升反卫星能力。2007年中国用导弹击落本国一颗气象卫星后，此事首次引发国际社会的关注。此外，据防务分析人士称，中国正在研制高清光学成像和近实时数据通信系统，这一系统将使中国有能力监视美国海军在亚太地区的行动。

中国政府也在寻求摆脱对美国全球定位系统(Global Positioning System)的依赖。理论上，美国有能力在发生冲突时切断中国与该系统的通信。据信，中国自主研发的北斗卫星定位系统一身兼具民用和军用两种用途。北斗系统于去年底开始向中国及其周边地区提供服务。