Spacecraft ready to go on mission

China Daily, September 27, 2011

Hou Xiangyang, who helped design Tiangong-1, said: "The sleeping section is big enough for a 1.8-meter-tall man to sleep in. An astronaut can adjust the light as he likes."

In space, Tiangong-1 will fly in a horizontal position. A paint scheme inside will help the astronauts aboard maintain their sense of direction; the module's inner walls will be in two colors, one commonly associated with the sky and one with the ground.

"This will help astronauts avoid feeling as if they are standing upside down in the microgravity environment," he said.

Yang said the Tiangong-1 spacecraft is expected to stay in orbit for two years and rendezvous and dock with three different spaceships. Beyond the Shenzhou VIII, ships named Shenzhou IX and Shenzhou X will embark on similar missions; at least one of the two is to be manned.

Before astronauts climb on board Tiangong-1, the conditions inside its experimental module will be adjusted to ensure they can live in an environment that contains enough oxygen, moisture and heat to be safe.

Tiangong-1 was originally scheduled to be launched into a low orbit around the Earth between Sept 27 and 30. The earlier days were removed as possible launch dates, though, after forecasters predicted a cold air mass would move into the area containing the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

To ensure the spacecraft and Long March II-F carrier rocket are ready for launch, a full ground simulation was conducted on Sunday afternoon.