China intends to accomplish its first spacecraft rendezvous and docking next month, according

to Zhang Hailian of the China Manned Space Engi-neering Office (CMSEO).“China wants to develop manned space engineering in order to explore the universe and make peaceful use of outer space for the benefit of mankind,” he said.In his presentation, Hailian focused on the simple Chi-nese spacelab Tiangong-1, which was launched un-manned last month, and Shenzhou-8, an unmanned spacecraft expected to blast off in November.Shenzhou-8 will be followed by two of its sister Shenzhou spacecraft in 2012, which are expect-ed to carry taikonauts to the space laboratory, currently orbiting at about 350 kilometres above the planet.“Space belongs to all mankind, and the space explo-ration is our common dream,” Hailian said in the ‘‘late breaking news’’ session yesterday.Next month will test China’s ability to rendezvous and dock spacecraft as part of ambitious plans to build the basic Tiangong-1 space station, stage by rocket-fueled stage.The aim is to build a space station consisting of

20-ton modules with a lifespan of about two years, after which it will conduct a controlled re-entry burn into the southern Pacific ocean.But Tiangong-1 is considered preparation for more extensive plans, which include ‘‘one or two space labs and some manned spaceships and cargo ships’’ launched before 2016, which in turn are ‘‘preparing for building of a space station’’.If all goes well, in around 2020, a 60-ton near-earth space station will be developed and launched in modules, allowing three astronauts to stay in space for a long time and carry out large-scale technological experiments.“China is willing to engage in international cooperation on the basis of mutual respect, equal-ity and mutual benefit,” Hailian said.Hailian said that China’s four unmanned space flights and three manned space flights meant that the nation has mastered key technologies in launch and re-entry and short-term residence.The problems which saw a launcher – very similar to the launcher used for the Chinese space station - fail to inject a satellite into orbit in August have been investigated and rectified, he said.

CHINA PLANS A RENDEZVOUS IN SPACE IN NOVEMBER

Friday 7th October 2011

The Austrian Space Forum (ASF), composed entirely of passionate volunteers, yesterday presented an interesting session on a crewed Mars exploration simulation - somewhat dampened by an unexpected downpour - at Rio Tinto in Spain. Reinhard Tlustos of the ASF spoke in the session on astrobiology and exploration, chaired by Petra Rettberg of the German Aerospace Centre and Pascale Ehrenfreund of the Space Policy Institute in the USA. Photo credit: Santek

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Earth observation data helps to map and conserve Africa’s declin-

ing water resources, Wilbur Ottichilo, a Kenyan member of parliament, told the IAC.Integrating Earth observation data into decision-making processes would also help to ensure enough water to increase food production in drought-prone east Africa.“The challenge we face is sustainable water conservation and use in Africa,” Ottichilo said during Wednesday’s plenary session on monitoring fresh water from space, which had a special focus on Africa.

Ottichilo, a former director general of the Kenya-based Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Develop-ment, said the data could be used to raise public awareness.Public awareness may then help to combat land degradation, which has in-creased floods in some parts of the con-tinent, the member of parliament said.“Floods increase not entirely because rainfall has increased but due to land degradation and cultivation on steep slopes. This has caused major runoffs and floods downstream,” said Ottichilo who is a holder of a PhD in natural resources planning, assessment and

management.He shared the podium with James Graf, the deputy director of earth science and technology at the National Aero-nautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory.Graf, who also moderated the ses-sion, detailed space missions that are mapping and monitoring global water resources.One such mission is the Gravity Recov-ery and Climate Experiment (GRACE): twin satellites in orbit measuring changes in aquifers and water surfaces.GRACE is a joint mission between NASA and the German Space Agency.

CONSERVING AFRICA’S WATER RESOURCES CRITICAL FOR FOOD SECURITY

See you in Beijing in 2013! Yang Junhua, vice president of the Chinese Society of Astronautics, yesterday formally signed the agreement with Brendt Feuerbacher, to host the 2013 International Astronautical Congress in China.

TRACKING THE ROVER THROUGH SPACEDaniel Bindel from Germany’s University of Bremen

said he hopes to test a better movement sensor for the next generation of Mars rovers by the end of the year.Bindel, the head of aerospace control systems at UB’s Centre of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity, said tracking a rover’s movement is essential in the absence of a global positioning satellite system on the planet.“We want to attach the sensor on the mobile unit to act as a navigator in distant planets where there is no GPS,” he told the session on mobile satellite communications and navigation technology yesterday.

“When the rover moves into a crater, for example, it will need to come out. The sensor will help the rover to know where the exit is,” Bindel said.The sensor will be composed of eight antennas that may be used for transmitting data.Attaching it to the rover could also ensure a constant supply of power for the sensor when its battery runs out.“At the moment we will be happy just to know it works,” he said in response to a question about worries of the sensor running out of power in space.Bindel hopes a demonstrator of the sensor will be ready for testing before the end of this year.

The launch site of China is located in Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center while the main landing site is in inner Mongolia.While possible goals after the space station is up and running include sending people to the Moon, China does not currently have a specific focus on manned lunar landing.An unmanned lunar exploration and successful manned missions to the Tiangong-1 space station could “lay a technological foundation for manned lunar landing,” Hailian said.He noted that China has successfully launched Chang’e-1 and Chang’e-2, which are lunar-orbiting satellites.“The CMSEO is willing to have exchanges with other space agencies in the world, actively explore and have international cooperation in building, operation and appli-cation of space station, thus making joint efforts to advance world space technology, and making contribution to the peaceful use of outer space and for the benefit of the whole world,” he concluded.CMSEO, which falls under the People’s Liberation Army, is headquartered in Beijing.

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DON’T LOSE THE COOL FACTOR!Space scientists must not lose the ‘wow’ factor, according

to one of the icons of science popularisation, Bill Nye, the Science Guy.The veteran TV science promoter, who left the IAC yesterday, said he was afraid that we’re in danger of losing the wonder and excitement which has characterised the Space Age.Nye, the executive director of the Planetary Society, said that amongst many positive legacies of America’s amazing Apollo lunar programme lurked one big negative: the cost.Nye said that the Apollo programme was comparable to the entire USA highway network in value.Space mission directors have to do more with less nowadays. A lot less.“But one actual test is worth a thousand expert opinions,” in the words of Tex Johnston, the Boeing test pilot who flew Dash-80, the proto-type of the 707, in the late ‘50’s.So the Planetary Society is testing real science. They’re sending a tiny titanium-cased container of various extremophile micro-organisms on the Russian mission to Phobos, Mars’ bigger moon, to see on their return how they survived in the hostile environment of space.The Planetary Society is right behind ‘‘cool’’ ideas like the project to divert the orbit of a collision-course near-earth asteroid. One idea is to wrap a space rock in mylar foil and utilise solar energy to gently propel the asteroid through

pressure from sunlight.A great example of ‘‘more with less’’ is the concept of cosmic sailing-ships. Deploy a huge light-weight sail, and the solar wind and light pressure drives the craft. The Planetary So-ciety has Light Sail 1 in production already, hopefully to be launched pretty soon in a polar low earth orbit.“People around the world think this sort of thing is cool” says Bill.

And he’s convinced that kids under the age of ten are key to the future of the space industry – it’s inspiration, dummy! – and he makes the point that the stress of climate change and pop-ulation growth puts pressure on science educa-tors to define ‘‘our place in space.’’ Who knows, a technological solution to carbon reduction may come from an inspired youngster still in kindergarten today.“The reason everybody gets into space or wants to build spacecraft is because of this simple

thing – the joy of knowing, and I want people to not lose that!”Bill Nye is a great communicator, a showman, a stand-up comic with a grounding in physics – but he conveyed the passion that should drive the scientific quest.The world of science ‘‘gee whiz” and wonder for the coming generation would be a poorer place without the energy, the passion, of Bill Nye.

The reason everybody gets into

space or wants to build spacecraft is because of this

simple thing – the joy of knowing,

and I want people to not lose that!

‘

’

HUMAN SPACE EXPLORATION A COSTLY AFFAIR

Human space exploration is an expensive venture that

requires collaboration to save costs, the IAC 2011 heard this week.Enrico Saggese, the president of the Italian Space Agency, said it would be impossible for any individual country to explore space independently as travel costs to Mars, for example, are pegged at US$500 billion.“The objective is cooperation,” he told sci-entists who attended the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) heads of space agencies summit follow-on yesterday.“No one can figure out space in a context that does not include everybody in the world,” said Saggese, who survived the Italian government’s axing of high-ranking members of 11 of the country’s public research institutes in August.Marius-Ioan Piso, the president of the Romanian Space Agency, agreed, say-ing global cooperation will be key to minimising costs.

The IAA has already made moves to spearhead the collaboration, said Gopalan Madravan Nair, who is the acad-emy’s president.The IAA held its first summit for the heads of space agencies in the US last year.At the summit, the heads of space agencies adopted a declaration that outlined key themes upon which future collaborative efforts will focus.The themes include climate change, human space flight, planetary robotic exploration and disaster management.“Sharing of Earth observation data for the purpose of global disaster manage-ment is important,” said Ray Johnson, the chief technology officer of Lockheed Martin Corporation in the US, which sponsored the 2010 heads of space agencies summit.Johnson said scientists are welcome to comment and add suggestions on how the themes can be implemented via email at summit@iaamail.org.

Gopalan Madhavan Nair, president of the International Academy of Astronautics.

Newsletter copy by Research Africa Design and production by Hippo Communications

Jeehye Moon with a model of Kompsat-5, which is due to be launched in November, at the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (LARI) stand in the exhibitor’s hall. Sang-Myon Rhee of Seoul National University in Korea is scheduled to speak on the voluntary and informal international cooperation of the 34-country Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) today in a joint International Astronautical Federation/International Institute of Space Law session on the policy and law of human space missions, beginning at 10 am in meeting room TS 07.

SPACE LAW TRAINING FOR NIGERIAN RESEARCHERS

Nigeria’s Obafemi Awolowo University plans to start

courses in space law next year.“We are ready to teach,” said Olankule Oladosu, who is a delegate at the International Astronautical Congress.“We are waiting for the curriculum

from the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)” said Oladosu, who lectures in atmos-pheric physics at the university.“My personal concern is we should not rush to have new satellites before we start using satellite data that is available,” he added.

Oladosu explained that satellite communication, satellite meteorol-ogy, remote sensing and geographic information systems would be op-tional subjects.Oladosu said the courses are of-fered mostly by lecturers from OAU, although some staff and facilities come from Nigeria’s Federal Univer-sity of Technology, Akure (FUTA).‘‘We have fundamental problems pertinent to our survival in Africa and the desire to get out of these problems fast is stimulating space science interest,’’ Oladosu said.Oladosu is coordinator of space sci-ences at the African Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in English (ARCSSTE-E), which is located at the OAU.

Finalists in yesterday’s Moot Court competition, organised by the International Institute of Space Law, prior to being judged by three members of the International Court of Justice. The African introductory round was held for the first time in the High Court in Cape Town yesterday, as part of preparations for a new African regional round of the competition from 2012 onwards.