Project 921-3
Encyclopedia
| Description | |
|---|---|
| Role: | Manned space shuttle Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons... project |
| Crew: | two |
| Dimensions | |
| Length: | 12 m |
| Wingspan: | 8 m |
| Mass: | 12 t |
Project 921-3 is Manned Spacecraft sub-system of Project 921. The term 921-3 is often used for the Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
space shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
program.
History
The Chinese National Manned Space Program was given the designation of Project 921 in 1992. This broad project was divided into three phases: 921/1 to launch a manned mission by 2002 in a craft that became the ShenzhouShenzhou spacecraft
Shenzhou is a spacecraft developed and operated by the People's Republic of China to support its manned spaceflight program. The name is variously translated as "Divine Craft," "Divine Vessel of God," "Magic Boat" or similar and is also homophonous with an ancient name for China...
, the Project 921/2 temporary space station by 2010, and the 921/3 permanent space station by 2020. Care must be taken not to confuse the 3 phases of Project 921 with its 7 sub-systems (921-1, 921-2 ... 921-7).
Early planning of Project 921 included 6 different proposals for a manned space transportation system. Five of these proposals were of a space-earth transportation system using a delta winged orbiter. By 1990, the proposal for the Soyuz-like
Soyuz spacecraft
Soyuz , Union) is a series of spacecraft initially designed for the Soviet space programme by the Korolyov Design Bureau in the 1960s, and still in service today...
capsule Shenzhou
Shenzhou
Shenzhou may refer to:*Shenzhou , or "Divine Land", name of China*Shenzhou City, in Hebei, China*Shenzhou , an album by ambient musician Biosphere*Shenzhou program, a manned spaceflight initiative by the People's Republic of China...
had won out.
Some small models for a space plane were made public, but the concept was rejected in favor of a Soyuz-like
Soyuz spacecraft
Soyuz , Union) is a series of spacecraft initially designed for the Soviet space programme by the Korolyov Design Bureau in the 1960s, and still in service today...
capsule which became Shenzhou
Shenzhou
Shenzhou may refer to:*Shenzhou , or "Divine Land", name of China*Shenzhou City, in Hebei, China*Shenzhou , an album by ambient musician Biosphere*Shenzhou program, a manned spaceflight initiative by the People's Republic of China...
. Concepts for a space shuttle now are only academic. There is no known Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
government support beyond very basic research for a space plane.
Photographs of a two-seat spaceplane simulator were published after 1980, probably belonging to a Chinese Dynasoar like vehicle. Reports of the existence of a wind tunnel model have continued since then.
Up to 1990, the several space-shuttle proposals studied were:
- TianJiao 1 space shuttle, proposed by the First Space Academy
- ChangCheng 1 (Great Wall 1) space shuttle, proposed by the Shanghai Space Bureau and 604 Aircraft Design Institute
- V-2 rocket plane, proposed by the 11th Aeronautics Institute;
- H-2 aerospace plane, proposed by 601 Aircraft Design Institute;
- Mini space shuttle, proposed by 611 Aircraft Design Institute;
The latest academic models shown in 2000, reveal a delta winged spaceplane with a single vertical stabilizer, equipped with three high-expansion engines. Presuming a seating arrangement of two crew members siting side-by-side in the cockpit, dimensions could be very roughly estimated as a wingspan of 8 m, a length of 12 m and a total mass of 12 tonnes. This is within the payload capability of the Chinese CZ-2E(A) or Type A launch vehicles.
HTS Maglev Launch Assist Technology
During the 2006 Zhuhai Airshow, pictures of a totally new space vehicle developed by the Beijing University of Aeronautics and AstronauticsBeijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Beihang University, previously known as Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics is a major research university located in Beijing, China....
(北京航空航天大学) were published.
This new Chinese space shuttle was based on the HTS (High Temperature Superconductor
High-temperature superconductivity
High-temperature superconductors are materials that have a superconducting transition temperature above . From 1960 to 1980, 30 K was thought to be the highest theoretically possible Tc...
) Maglev Launch Assist Technology for Space Flight Vehicle (航天运载器高温超导磁悬浮助推发射技术), with an initial take off speed of 1000 km/h.
Shenlong Space Plane
Images of an aerodynamic scaled model, ready to be launched from under the fuselage of a H-6KXian H-6
The Xian H-6 is a license-built version of the Soviet Tupolev Tu-16 twin-engine jet bomber, built for the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force....
bomber, were first published in the Chinese media on 11 December 2007. Code named Project 863-706, the Chinese name of this spacecraft was revealed as “神龙”空天飞机 or "Shenlong Space Plane", meaning Divine Dragon in Mandarin
Standard Mandarin
Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Chinese, also known as Mandarin or Putonghua, is the official language of the People's Republic of China and Republic of China , and is one of the four official languages of Singapore....
. These images, possibly taken in late 2005, show the vehicle's black reentry heat shielding, indicating a reusable design, and its engine assembly.
It has been proposed that the vehicle is fitted with a Russian-designed D-30K turbofan engine, which would likely not provide enough power to reach Low Earth orbit
Low Earth orbit
A low Earth orbit is generally defined as an orbit within the locus extending from the Earth’s surface up to an altitude of 2,000 km...
. A larger Shenlong model, however, would be capable of carrying a payload to orbit. Analysts had previously reported on a late 2006 Chinese test flight of what is believed to be a super-ramjet
Ramjet
A ramjet, sometimes referred to as a stovepipe jet, or an athodyd, is a form of airbreathing jet engine using the engine's forward motion to compress incoming air, without a rotary compressor. Ramjets cannot produce thrust at zero airspeed and thus cannot move an aircraft from a standstill...
demonstrator, possibly related to the Shenlong vehicle.
Earlier, images of the High-enthalpy Shock Waves Laboratory wind tunnel
Wind tunnel
A wind tunnel is a research tool used in aerodynamic research to study the effects of air moving past solid objects.-Theory of operation:Wind tunnels were first proposed as a means of studying vehicles in free flight...
of the CAS
CAS
' may refer to:-Institutions:* California Academy of Sciences, a museum of natural history, San Francisco, California, USA* Casualty Actuarial Society, a professional society of actuaries in the United States...
Key Laboratory of high-temperature gas dynamics (LHD) where published in the Chinese media. Test with speed up to Mach 20 where reached around 2001.
According to CAS
Chinese Academy of Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Sciences , formerly known as Academia Sinica, is the national academy for the natural sciences of the People's Republic of China. It is an institution of the State Council of China. It is headquartered in Beijing, with institutes all over the People's Republic of China...
academician Zhuang Fenggan (莊逢甘), a first test flight of the spaceplane will be conducted during the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan", meaning from 2006 to 2010.
Hypersonic Vehicle
Another hypersonic vehicle has been tested, which is equivalent to the X-43.External links
- http://www.friends-partners.org/partners/mwade/craft/prot9213.htm
- http://web.archive.org/web/20091027100240/http://geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Launchpad/1921/
- http://www.sinodefence.com/strategic/mannedspace/project921.asp
- http://www.worldspaceflight.com/china/921.htm