Following the success of China's first-ever emergency space launch, a veteran Canadian astronaut has called for international joint efforts to ensure safe and sustainable human spaceflight.
China launched an emergency crewless Shenzhou-22 spaceship on Tuesday, sending food, medicine, spare parts and other essential supplies to the Shenzhou-21 astronauts currently on board the Tiangong space station.
The mission was necessary due to damage caused to the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft by a suspected debris impact, which forced the return of the three Shenzhou-20 astronauts to be delayed earlier this month. They later used the newly-arrived spacecraft belonging to the crew of the Shenzhou-21 mission to return to Earth on Nov 14.
The latest mission marked a significant moment as the first-ever emergency operation to be launched at short notice in the history of China's manned space program.
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Julie Payette -- the first Canadian astronaut to visit the International Space Station and currently the president of the Association of Space Explorers and chairwoman of the Astronauts Administrative Committee of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) -- praised the quick launch of the Shenzhou-22 for the emergency mission.
"We'd like to congratulate the Chinese space program for sending Shenzhou-22 so quickly into space. This was by far the best way to mitigate the safety issue. So we're very pleased, especially the astronaut community, to see that our colleagues now have a perfectly operating lifeboat attached to the station. This said, the Chinese program, we know, had done many mitigating aspects to alleviate that extra risk by having safety drills and by having new protocols at very tight operations, but still it is better to have just a life boat if something goes on," she said.
The threat of space debris has become a critical concern for countries with missions in orbit. The IAF official emphasized that improving joint monitoring and sharing data through collaboration among global stakeholders is the solution to reducing risks for all future long-duration missions.
"It's absolutely vital. You mentioned the IAF, the International Astronautical Federation, which has partners and people working together, this is perhaps one of the most important topics right now. There's a lot of impetus to bring people together, all the players, whether governmental or commercial, to collaborate to standardize their procedure. And we need also to define some emergency response, help orbit to orbit, depending (on) safety boards and people that can certify spacecraft on the ground to carry humans. And with that, we'll have a safer and more resilient industry," said Payette.
Veteran Canadian astronaut hails China's first-ever emergency space launch, calls for int'l cooperation
