Beijing Planetarium curator Zhu Jin has denied that the two flying objects swooping against Shenzhou 9 four minutes after its launch on June 16 were UFOs.
According to Zhu, who also the vice executive director of Beijing’s UFO Research Society, the two glistening objects caught onscreen during the live broadcast of China’s first manned space docking mission last Saturday, were probably birds, planes or other flying modules.
Yet Zhu elaborated that because of the temporary lack of access to the technological figures and infrared video images, it is difficult to identify the flying objects as well as to measure their velocities and actual distances to the spacecraft. The approximate-one-second television appearance of the objects is insufficient to provide any evidence backing up the UFO claims, Zhu said.
In stark contrast to Zhu’s scientific analysis, some Weibo users (China’s Twitter-like microblogging platform) were more imaginative in their assessments of the unidentified objects in the sky.
Many of them believed that the shining objects were indeed UFOs, while other bloggers suggested that the objects could be supernatural phenomena predicting disaster.
China has reached two technological milestones spanning great depths and heights. In the earth’s orbit, the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft manually docked a space module while under the Pacific, a Jiaolong submersible dived to the bottom of the Marian Trench.
The symbolism behind the scheduling of the two historical events was far from coincidental. The three oceanographers manning the submersible during the 7,000 dive sent greetings to their three fellow “taikonauts” piloting the space capsule, wishing them luck in their mission.
The descent to a depth of 7,015 meters broke the Chinese national diving record. It was the fourth such dive in the mission, which started on June 15. The dive was conducted in heavy rain, according to a Xinhua report.
The space mission was also successful, with the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft undocking and again docking the Tiangong 1 module. For the first time, the procedure was performed manually rather than directed from the mission control center on the ground.
China became the third nation after Russia and the US to master the technology, which is crucial for the nation’s ambitious space program. The country wants to have a domestically-made manned space station operating by 2020.
The docking was the key part of the space mission. China launched the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, which carried the country’s first female astronaut, last Saturday. The mission will now continue for four more days.
China seeks to develop a completely independent space exploration program. Beijing sees it as part of the country’s growing global influence, as China strives to become the world’s largest economy and take a more prominent political position on the terrestrial stage.
A Shenzhou-9 spacecraft with three people on board has successfully carried out an automatic space docking mission on Monday. The Chinese are now a step closer to creating a national manned space station.
The spacecraft blasted off on Saturday for a 13-day mission. China’s first female space explorer, 33-year-old Liu Yang, is among the three crew members.
Monday’s docking with the Tiangong-1 orbital module is the third such maneuver performed by the Chinese, although it has not previously been done by a manned spacecraft.
Prominent Russian space expert Igor Lisov said the docking was very efficient, and the speed and accuracy was even greater than when Russian Soyuz and Progress spacrafts dock to the ISS. Lisov also noted that this latest success means that China is closer than ever to the two leading 'space nations' – Russia and the US.
The crew is expected to undock in six days and carry out a manual docking, which will be one of the highlights of the ongoing mission. The ability to perform the tricky procedure is essential for China’s ambitious plan to have a national manned space station operating by 2020.
China is pursuing a national space program independently from other space-faring nations as part of its resurgence as a leading global power.
An unmanned Air Force space plane steered itself to a landing early Saturday at a California military base, capping a 15-month clandestine mission.
The spacecraft, which was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in March 2011, conducted in-orbit experiments during the mission, officials said. It was the second such autonomous landing at the Vandenberg Air Force Base, 130 miles northwest of Los Angeles. In 2010, an identical unmanned spacecraft returned to Earth after seven months and 91 million miles in orbit.
The latest homecoming was set in motion when the stubby-winged robotic X-37B fired its engine to slip out of orbit, then pierced through the atmosphere and glided down the runway like an airplane.
"With the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet, the X-37B OTV program brings a singular capability to space technology development," said Lt. Col. Tom McIntyre, the X-37B's program manager. "The return capability allows the Air Force to test new technologies without the same risk commitment faced by other programs. We're proud of the entire team's successful efforts to bring this mission to an outstanding conclusion."
With the second X-37B on the ground, the Air Force planned to launch the first one again in the fall. An exact date has not been set.
The twin X-37B vehicles are part of a military program testing robotically controlled reusable spacecraft technologies. Though the Air Force has emphasized the goal is to test the space plane itself, there's a classified payload on board — a detail that has led to much speculation about the mission's ultimate purpose.
Some amateur trackers think the craft carried an experimental spy satellite sensor judging by its low orbit and inclination, suggesting reconnaissance or intelligence gathering rather than communications.
Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, who runs Jonathan's Space Report, which tracks the world's space launches and satellites, said it's possible it was testing some form of new imaging.
The latest X-37B was boosted into orbit atop an Atlas 5 rocket. It was designed to stay aloft for nine months, but the Air Force wanted to test its endurance. After determining the space plane was performing well, the military decided in December to extend the mission.
Little has been said publicly about the second X-37B flight and operations. At a budget hearing before the Senate Armed Services subcommittee in March, William Shelton, head of the Air Force Space Command, made a passing mention.
That the second X-37B has stayed longer in space than the first shows "the flexibility of this unique system," he told lawmakers.
Defense analysts are divided over its usefulness.
Joan Johnson-Freese, professor of national security affairs at the Naval War College, said such a craft could give the U.S. "eyes" over conflict regions faster than a satellite.
"Having a vehicle with a broad range of capabilities that can get into space quickly is a very good thing," she said.
Yousaf Butt, a nuclear physicist and scientific consultant for the Federation of American Scientists, thinks the capabilities of the X-37B could be done more cheaply with a disposable spacecraft.
"I believe one of the reasons that the mission is still around is institutional inertia," he said.
The arc of the X-37 program spans back to 1999 and has changed hands several times. Originally a NASA project, the space agency in 2004 transferred it to the Pentagon's research and development arm, DARPA, and then to the secretive Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been poured into development, but the current total spent remains a secret.
Built by Boeing Government Space Systems, a unit of the company's satellite manufacturing area, the 11,000-pound space plane stands 9 1 /2 feet tall and is just over 29 feet long, with a wingspan of less than 15 feet. It possesses two angled tail fins rather than a single vertical stabilizer. Once in orbit, it has solar panels that unfurl to charge batteries for electrical power.
McDowell of the Jonathan's Space Report sees a downside. He noted it'll be tough for the Air Force to send up such planes on short notice if it has to rely on the Atlas V rocket, which requires lengthy preparations.
"The requirement to go on Atlas V is a problem; they may need to look at a new launch vehicle that would be ready to go more quickly," he said.
