“Heavenly Palace” Hit by Debris

When one thinks of a space station, what comes to mind is most likely called the ISS (international space station). This is unsurprising as it is both the largest and oldest space station currently in orbit of earth, along with being run by NASA which is a huge contributing factor to its fame. However, two other countries have also sent their own space stations into orbit: Russia and (most importantly for today’s article) China. Plans for China’s ‘Tiangong’ station, which translates to “Heavenly Palace”, were approved in 1992 and after years of testing and finalising plans, the station was completed in October of 2022. Only 4 months ago, however, China’s space palace was hit by flying debris, also stuck in the orbit of earth.

Dangerous Debris

"The space station's core module Tianhe had suffered a partial loss of power supply due to the impact of the space debris on the solar wing's power cables," paraphrases the report from Lin Xiqiang, China Manned Space Agency’s (CMSA) deputy director, on the damage caused by the collision. While not catastrophic, this occurrence has sparked slight fear in the eyes of space workers and enthusiasts as future collisions may not be as gentle.

As of yet, experts in China are uncertain as to whether the culprit was a micrometeoroid, or from a man-made construction in space. Although the latter is looking more likely. The North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) has identified 43,000 space objects caught in earth’s orbit, 7,300 of which are active satellites. The sheer multitude of man-made objects in space is making the act of keeping space stations, such as Tiangong, safe much more difficult. Even the ISS is struggling. Since it’s first modules were sent up in 1993, the American station has been forced to manoeuvre away from passing debris 30 times in order to avoid critical damage. Agency officials state the strict guidelines that must be followed: a manoeuvre must be made if debris arrives in a ‘pizza box’ measuring in at around 2.5mi by 30mi by 30mi. As stated in the Xinhua report on this most recent collision, Tiangong has in the past “executed manoeuvres on multiple occasions to avoid space debris”.

Spacewalk to Safety

On the 26th of October 2023 the CMSA launched Shenzhou 17, a rocket transporting 3 astronauts to Tiangong with the task of fixing the damage caused by the collision. The team consisted of mission commander Tang Hongbo, Jiang Xinlin who assisted by operating the robotic arm from inside the station, and Tang Shengjie who became Cina’s youngest astronaut to take part in an extravehicular activity (EVA-or spacewalk). The mission was a success, with the 7.5 hour EVA being the station’s first to repair any damage, and is a huge step forward for China. It proves that while problems will be faced, the team is proficient in conducting repairs as well as highlights the importance of protection against the many objects flying around our planet. A recorded video of the repairs being completed is available to watch on youtube.

Previously, any EVA’s conducted by CMSA were simply to install new parts or check over older ones. However, in this case things needed to be fixed which was a first. Deputy chief designer for China’s human spaceflight program, Dong Nengli, stated that the solar wings are “flexible, to a certain extent, and also very thin, which limits space of operation to a certain degree,”. This meant that a lot of precision and skill was required from the astronauts, however the trio overcame this hurdle and easily repaired the damage, “laying a solid foundation for us to guarantee the station’s safety and reliability”, said Dong.

Future Precautions

With China’s plans for Tiangong to take over from the ISS as the world’s leading space station after it is decommissioned in 2030, it is incredibly important that the station stays operational. Because of this, the success of the mission was a huge deal for the country’s space programme. But to keep this streak of success running, precautions must be taken to reduce the risk of hurdles, such as the crash, reappearing. For example, CMSA have made plans to utilise the high-definition camera built into the heavenly palace’s robotic arm to inspect the extravehicular status of the station, along with using it as an aid in analysing the likelihood of future debris collisions. On top of this, on Thursday the 25th of April, a following Shenzhou spacecraft, the Shenzhou 18, was launched containing a crew tasked with installing further protection and equipment. CMSA hopes that this will keep the station protected in the event of another, possibly more dangerous, crash.