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La Cina Lancerà Nello Spazio Nuovi Astronauti, Un Telescopio E Una Stazione Spaziale

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La Cina Lancerà Nello Spazio Nuovi Astronauti, Un Telescopio E Una Stazione Spaziale https://www.astronautinews.it/2020/06/la-cina-lancera-nello-spazio-nuovi-astronauti-un-telescopio-e- una-stazione-spaziale/ La Cina lancerà nello spazio nuovi astronauti, un telescopio e una stazione spaziale DI GIANMARCO VESPIA · appresenta zione artistica della futura stazione spaziale cinese. Credit: CMSE/CNSA. Se l’America ride, la Cina non piange. Il recente successo della missione SpaceX Demo-2 ha spopolato sui social media, mettendo in luce le ritrovate capacità statunitensi di inviare astronauti americani con un razzo americano dal suolo americano. Le attività spaziali cinesi proseguono in silenzio, ma non con meno intensità. In futuro è previsto un ciclo di attività a tamburo battente, con una selezione imminente di nuovi taikonauti, per usare un vecchio neologismo, e ben 11 missioni per costruire una nuova stazione spaziale. Vedremo quindi a breve astronauti cinesi lanciati con un razzo cinese dal suolo cinese. Procediamo con ordine. L’ingegnere capo delle attività spaziali cinesi con equipaggio umano è Zhou Jianping. È una figura professionale di spicco, professore universitario alla fine degli anni 1990 presso la Dàlián Lǐgōng Dàxué, l’Università Nazionale di Tecnologie di Difesa, una delle Università di più alto livello in Cina e appartenente al ciclo Project 985, ha assunto ruoli di alto livello per la seconda terza missione umana, Shenzhou 6 e Shenzhou 7. Il 24 maggio scorso Zhou ha dichiarato che la Cina inizierà a luglio l’addestramento di 18 nuovi astronauti, che verranno selezionati tra gli effettivi delle forze armate, in particolare nell’aeronautica, e anche, per la prima volta nella storia, tra il personale civile. Questa selezione è il terzo blocco di astronauti, il secondo, di soli 7 astronauti, era stato selezionato nel 2010, il primo, 14 astronauti, nel 1998. Cosa faranno i candidati astronauti cinesi? Sicuramente per ora non andranno nello spazio, ma si prepareranno a costruire la nuova stazione spaziale cinese, il cui lancio del modulo inaugurale avverrà probabilmente nel 2021 e sarà seguito da altre 11 missioni per completare l’assemblaggio entro il 2023. Già gli astronauti della precedente selezione si stanno allenando con le attività extraveicolari in una piscina adatta a simulare, per quanto possibile, l’assenza di peso. Sono allenamenti di routine simili a quelli che hanno eseguito la maggior parte degli astronauti statunitensi ed europei prima di partire verso la ISS. Inoltre è già stata pianificata una serie di esperimenti scientifici da eseguire a bordo della stazione, che necessiteranno di un periodo di preparazione ed esercitazione a Terra. Allenamento in piscina per la preparazione alle attività extraveicolari. La selezione dei nuovi astronauti doveva avvenire già nel 2017, ma era subordinata alla costruzione della stazione spaziale che dipende dal vettore Chang Zheng 5, Lunga Marcia 5, per la sua costruzione. Purtroppo il fallimento del secondo volo di questo vettore, avvenuto il 6 luglio 2017, ha costretto a posticipare molti progetti spaziali cinesi, tra cui la stazione spaziale. Ci sono voluti anni di indagini per capire e risolvere il problema del lanciatore pesante cinese, ma come una fenice tornata alla vita, all’inizio del 2020 un nuovo Lunga Marcia 5 ha lasciato la Terra senza problemi. Tornando alla stazione spaziale, attualmente la ISS è l’unica attiva in orbita terrestre, ma in passato ce ne sono state poco più di una decina, tra cui anche due cinesi, Tiangong 1 e 2. La nuova stazione in programma sarà più grande e rispetto alle precedenti sarà modulare. Sarà composta dal modulo principale Tianhe e da due laboratori, Wentian e Mengtian, che verranno inviati con 3 lanci distinti. Per assemblarla saranno necessarie ulteriori 4 missioni cargo e 4 missioni con equipaggio. Prima di partire con la costruzione, l’agenzia spaziale cinese darà la precedenza ad altre due missioni importanti, Tianwen-1 e Chang’e- 5, la prima su Marte e la seconda sulla Luna, che dovrebbero essere lanciate entro la fine del 2020 entrambe su un razzo Lunga Marcia 5. Una volta che queste due sonde interplanetarie avranno lasciato la Terra, l’agenzia si potrà concentrare sulla sua nuova stazione. Tianhe, potrebbe venire lanciato già a gennaio 2021: il modulo, infatti, è pronto ed è solo in attesa di un lanciatore a disposizione. Discorso di Zhou tenuto la scorsa settimana con riassunte le aspirazioni dell’agenzia. Una volta completata, la stazione spaziale cinese si manterrà in orbita terrestre bassa, tra 340 km e 450 km di quota dalla superficie, e sarà in grado di mantenere continuativamente a bordo un equipaggio di 3 persone con una rotazione di 6 mesi. Esiste la possibilità in futuro di aumentare la dimensione della stazione spaziale fino a 6 moduli, ma per ora non rientra nei piani. L’inclinazione orbitale sarà di 43°. Questo valore è stato scelto per poter permettere lanci di rendezvous anche dal centro spaziale di Jiuquan, a nord della Cina, vicino al confine con la Mongolia. Non è ancora chiaro se tra gli incaricati all’assemblaggio ci sarà anche uno dei 18 astronauti del “terzo blocco”, i tempi sono piuttosto stretti. L’equipaggio userà la nuova capsula (recentemente testata) per fare da spola tra la Terra e la stazione. Si tratta di una navicella più capiente della obsoleta Shenzhou usata per Tiangong 1 e 2, capace di ospitare un equipaggio fino a 6 persone, anche se probabilmente non verrà mai usata al massimo della sua capacità per questo progetto. Una volta che la stazione spaziale cinese sarà completata, riceverà un insolito compagno di viaggio che coorbiterà nei suoi pressi: Xuntian. Si tratta di un telescopio spaziale dalle prestazioni simili a Hubble, ma con un angolo di campo circa 300 volte maggiore. Non è possibile ospitare un tale telescopio a bordo della stazione, in quanto risulterebbe tecnicamente molto difficile mantenere una stabilità tale da garantire immagini di alta qualità. La posizione ravvicinata di Xuntian e la possibilità di agganciarsi alla stazione spaziale porteranno indubbiamente numerosi vantaggi rispetto a un telescopio in orbita indipendente. Innanzitutto è doveroso ricordare che Hubble ebbe un grosso problema a mettere a fuoco le immagini poco dopo il suo lancio, a causa di un errore procedurale a Terra. Occorsero 3 anni e mezzo di preparazione e 4 attività extraveicolari della missione Shuttle STS-61 per sistemare il problema. Con un telescopio agganciabile alla stazione, la preparazione alle attività di manutenzione sarebbe evidentemente più semplice. Il lancio potrebbe avvenire già nel 2024. .
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