Zhang Bainan

Zhang Bainan ( Chinese  張柏楠  /  张柏楠 , Pinyin Zhāng Bǎinán ), born June 23, 1962 in Qiqihar , Heilongjiang Province , is a Chinese materials engineer and politician of the Communist Party of China . He has been chief designer of the Shenzhou spaceships since January 2004 and in this capacity also heads the development of the new generation of manned spaceships . Zhang Bainan has been Deputy Technical Director of the People's Republic of China's manned space program since October 15, 2019 .

Youth and Studies

Zhang Bainan was born on June 23, 1962 in Qiqihar City, the middle of three children of a chemist and an accountant who worked in the Research Department of Heilongjiang Chemical Plant (黑龙江 化工厂). His parents were both local Chinese Communist Party cadres. After primary school, he attended the "Versuchsgymnasium Qiqihar" (齐齐哈尔 市 实验 中学, from 1970 to 1978 "28th Qiqihar Middle School" or 齐齐哈尔 市 第二 十八 中学), an institution that has not only served local students since its founding in 1950 rather, as the first high school in the province at the time, it accepted students from all over Heilongjiang. Zhang Bainan became interested in technology from an early age. When the magazine “Luft- und Raumfahrtwissen” (航空 知识), founded in 1958 and discontinued during the Cultural Revolution , appeared again in January 1974 , he immediately subscribed to it, and when his parents got a computer - it was still very much in private households even in highly industrialized Manchuria rare device - he created three-dimensional graphics on it. Zhang Bainan was not a bad student, even though he spent a lot of time on the computer. When regular teaching resumed in the mid-1970s with the end of the Cultural Revolution, he was regularly the best in his class in the physics exams. At high school in 1980, he did so well that he was able to attend his dream university, the University of Science and Technology of National Defense in Changsha , where he enrolled at the then Faculty of Solid Mechanics (固体 力学 系).

The students of the University of Science and Technology of National Defense were mostly not soldiers at that time, but life there was regulated militarily, with waking up at 6:00 a.m. in the morning and turning off the lights at 10:00 p.m. in the evening. There was also strict discipline in the lecture halls - the teachers were all officers of the People's Liberation Army. In 1984 he completed his studies as a graduate engineer. In Changsha he was offered to continue studying as a postgraduate in order to later work as a lecturer. However, Zhang Bainan preferred to be practical and dreamed of building satellites. For this purpose, he first went to the Harbin Polytechnic University , where he studied the fundamentals of the mechanics of composite materials (复合 材料 力学) with Gu Zhenlong (顾震隆, * 1928) for a year . He then went to Beijing, where he enrolled at the Chinese Academy of Space Technology for this subject and in 1987 acquired the degree of Postgraduate Specialist (专业 硕士), a kind of "specialist doctorate", which in China above the graduate engineer (硕士) is located under the doctor (). After graduating, Zhang Bainan was permanently taken over by the Space Technology Academy, which is not only a teaching institution but also a spacecraft manufacturing company. First he came to Laboratory 6 of the main development department in Beijing (北京 空间 飞行器 总体设计 部), where he was used in the construction of return satellites .

Shenzhou program

After the Shuguang project for a manned spacecraft was discontinued in March 1975, China initially concentrated on building satellites. When on March 3, 1986 the four scientists Wang Daheng (王大珩, 1915–2011), Wang Ganchang , Yang Jiachi (杨嘉 墀, 1919–2006) and Chen Fangyun proposed Deng Xiaoping on behalf of the Chinese Academy of Sciences , which was later called “ Program 863 “well-known high-tech program, space travel was one of the specialist areas that they had earmarked for state funding. Within the space department, internally called “863-2”, there was section 863-204, which dealt with spaceships that were supposed to transport space travelers to a space station (section 863-205). A commission of experts was appointed which called on the state-owned companies and research institutions involved in space travel to make suggestions for a spaceship. At the Academy for Space Technology , the 508 Institute , headed by Wang Xiji at the time , which had already designed the Shuguang spacecraft, was entrusted with the matter. The institute proposed a relatively simple spaceship similar to the Soviet Soyuz capsules, as this would be compatible with the economic and technical possibilities of China at the time. In 1986, the institute's proposal was still being considered by the commission of experts for program 863. A detailed feasibility study should now be carried out. In 1987, at the age of only 25, after a few months in Laboratory 6, Zhang Bainan was transferred to Institute 508 and assigned to the group that had to work out said feasibility study. A year later, in 1988, Zhang Bainan joined the Chinese Communist Party.

The design of the Academy for Space Technology competed with the proposal for a Chinese space shuttle (the American shuttle had its maiden flight on April 12, 1981). After extensive deliberation, the commission of experts finally decided in July 1989 in favor of the simpler spacecraft of the Institute 508 and presented the plan to Deng Xiaoping. However, the latter rejected both the single-use spaceship and the shuttle, and so the manned space flight project initially came to an end. However, on November 9, 1989, Deng Xiaoping resigned as chairman of the CCP's Central Military Commission , and on March 19, 1990, as chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China, and no longer held an official position. Prime Minister Li Peng was more open to manned space travel. Both the Academy of Space Technology and its competitors had meanwhile continued to work on designs for a Soyuz-like spacecraft, and on September 21, 1992, the People's Republic of China's manned space program was approved by the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China .

It was agreed that the Academy for Space Technology should build the orbital module and the return capsule of the spaceship later called “ Shenzhou ”, the “Godship”, while the Shanghai Academy for Space Technology should build the service module. The chief designer of the spaceship was Qi Faren (戚 konstru, * 1933), director of the Academy for Space Technology since 1983 and until then, in addition to his administrative tasks, development manager for the communication satellite Dong Fang Hong 3, which was already intended as a general platform at that time . Zhang Bainan, who had worked uninterruptedly on the preliminary planning for the manned spacecraft since 1987, was assigned to Qi Faren's developer group, which soon after had grown to 1,000 men and women. There he was initially a team leader and then rose quickly until he was appointed deputy chief designer in 1996 and, as Qi Faren's right-hand man, was responsible for the development and testing of the spaceship body and its mechanical components. In this capacity, Zhang led more than 50 large-scale tests.

After the successful maiden flight of a Chinese astronaut on October 15, 2003, Qi Faren handed over his post as chief designer of the Shenzhou spaceships to Zhang Bainan in mid-January 2004, at the age of 70. Since Shenzhou 6 , Zhang Bainan has had overall responsibility for all spacecraft in the series at the Chinese Academy for Space Technology . At the same time, Qi also handed over his position as technical director of the spacecraft system in the People's Republic of China's manned space program to his longtime deputy, a promotion for which Zhang Bainan received a one-time tax-free salary bonus (国务院 政府 特殊 津贴) of 10,000 yuan from the State Council of the People's Republic of China . He also holds the position of the manned space program to this day (2020). When the Space Technology Academy began developing the Tiangong 1 space laboratory, the main manned space laboratory at the main development department (总体 部 载人 航天 总体 室) became a separate "manned space department" (载人 航天 总体部), which was no longer only responsible for the Shenzhou spaceships, but for all spacecraft in connection with the manned space program of the People's Republic of China. Zhang Bainan has been appointed chief engineer (总设计师) of the new main department.

New generation manned spaceship

On March 29, 2011, the Chinese Academy of Space Technology signed a cooperation agreement with the Harbin Polytechnic University to establish a “Joint Research Center for Human Spaceflight and Deep Space Exploration” (载人 航天 和 深 空 探测 联合 研究 中心). Soon after, Zhang Bainan began with his colleagues Yang Lei (杨 雷), Zuo Guang (左 光), Shi Yong (石 泳) and Huang Zhen (黄震), as well as metallurgist Guo Bin (郭斌), deputy rector of Harbin Polytechnic University to work on a concept for a reusable manned multi-purpose craft inspired by the American Dragon and Starliner spaceships. On March 31, 2015, the concept was publicly presented in the magazine Acta Aeronautica et Astronautica Sinica . Since it is currently (2020) a project that has been pre-financed by the Academy for Space Technology and not yet funded by the Fund for National Scientific and Technical Large- Scale Projects , it has so far only been given the working title " Manned Spaceship of the New Generation " (新一代 载人飞船).

On 25/26 June 2016, a first flight test took place with a model of the return capsule of the spaceship, reduced to 0.63 times, in which, on the one hand, the flight behavior of the conical capsule was to be tested (the Shenzhou spaceships use a bell-shaped return capsule), and on the other hand the new ones Materials from which the ablative heat shield and the cabin itself are made. The test was successful, and after the landing airbags of the return capsule also passed the tests in April 2018, an unmanned test flight of a full-size prototype is now to take place in the first half of 2020. ^[outdated]

Political commitment

As a senior executive, Zhang Bainan was involved in politics and public relations early on. For example, after the crash of the Columbia space shuttle on February 1, 2003, he appeared as an expert in the “Focus Report” (焦点 访谈), a program of the state television broadcaster CCTV specializing in investigative journalism . He also attended the celebrations after successful missions in the Great Hall of the People as a representative of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation , the parent company of the Space Technology Academy . In the elections for the 12th legislative period in late December 2012, he was then elected to the National People's Congress for the CCP in the Guizhou constituency. When he was intercepted by a journalist on the way to the first meeting on March 2, 2013, he emphasized that as a member of his group he worked for the people of Guizhou (in China the groups correspond to the constituencies, regardless of party affiliation), however, he immediately used his status to advertise manned space travel. Even then, he spoke of manned flights to other planets that China would undertake autonomously without the help of other states.

At the end of December 2017, Zhang Bainan was re-elected to the National People's Congress, this time as one of 102 MPs from Liaoning constituency . In the 13th legislative period, which lasts until March 2023, he is working on the Committee for Environment and Resource Protection (环境 与 资源 保护 委员会). As a nationwide known aerospace engineer - the Chinese equivalent of Wernher von Braun - Zhang Bainan is still a sought-after interviewee. In March 2018, on the sidelines of the constituent session of the newly elected parliament, he revealed that the concrete development of the manned spacecraft of the new generation had already begun and that this spacecraft would not only be suitable for flights to the moon, but also to Mars.

On October 15, 2019, Zhang Bainan was appointed assistant technical director of the People's Republic of China's manned space program .

Web links

• Works by Zhang Bainan in the Chinese National Library (Chinese)
• Official website of "Focus Report" (Chinese)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 张振明: 县区 概况. In: qqhr.gov.cn. July 31, 2019, accessed December 27, 2019 (Chinese). 
2. ↑ 学校 概况. In: gaokao.chsi.com.cn. Retrieved December 27, 2019 (Chinese). 
3. ↑ 李林: 航空 知识. In: youth.chinamil.com.cn. January 17, 2014, accessed December 27, 2019 (Chinese). 
4. ↑ 航空 知识. In: csaa.org.cn. November 28, 2011, Retrieved December 27, 2019 (Chinese). 
5. ↑ His older sister studied at Beijing Aerospace University and his younger sister at Fudan University in Shanghai.
6. ↑ Compare the completely opposite experiences of Sun Zezhou , today's chief designer of the Chinese lunar and Mars probes , at the Aviation Academy in Nanjing, or the youth of Wu Weiren , today the technical director of the lunar program of the People's Republic of China , in rural Sichuan .
7. ↑ 神 七 飞船 总设计师 是 张柏楠: 在 追求 中 圆梦. In: news.hit.edu.cn. September 19, 2008, Retrieved December 27, 2019 (Chinese). 
8. ↑ 组织 机构. In: cast.cn. Retrieved December 27, 2019 (Chinese). 
9. ↑ 863-1 was biotechnology, 863-3 information technology, etc.
10. ↑ Mark Wade: Shenzhou in the Encyclopedia Astronautica , accessed on September 24, 2019.
11. ↑ 神 七 飞船 总设计师 是 张柏楠: 在 追求 中 圆梦. In: news.hit.edu.cn. September 19, 2008, Retrieved December 27, 2019 (Chinese). 
12. ↑ 专家 详情. In: beidou.org. Retrieved December 31, 2019 (Chinese). 
13. ↑ 孙 灿: 著名 航天 工程 专家 戚 发轫 ： 每 一个 中国 人 把 自己 的 工作 干 好 就是 爱国. In: ccdi.gov.cn. February 24, 2017, accessed December 31, 2019 (Chinese). 
14. ↑ 戚 发轫. In: buaa.edu.cn. Retrieved December 31, 2019 (Chinese). 
15. ↑ Mark Wade: Qi Faren in the Encyclopedia Astronautica , accessed on December 31, 2019.
16. ↑ 神 七 飞船 总设计师 是 张柏楠: 在 追求 中 圆梦. In: news.hit.edu.cn. September 19, 2008, accessed December 31, 2019 (Chinese). 
17. ↑ 享受 国务院 政府 特殊 津贴 专家 选拔 与 管理. In: rsj.lf.gov.cn. Retrieved January 2, 2020 (Chinese). 
18. ↑ 载人 飞船 系统. In: cmse.gov.cn. Retrieved January 1, 2020 (Chinese). 
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21. ↑ 常 红: 航天 劳模 走进 清华大学. In: tsinghua.edu.cn. April 26, 2010, accessed January 1, 2020 (Chinese). 
22. ↑ 中国 空间 技术 研究院 与 哈工大 共建 载人 航天 和 深 空 探测 联合 研究 中心. In: topkk.net. April 2, 2011, accessed January 2, 2020 (Chinese). 
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25. ↑ 陈泽伟: 揭秘 中国 航天 人才 队伍 ： 平均 年龄 只有 30 多 岁. In: chinanews.com. July 30, 2012, accessed January 2, 2020 (Chinese). 
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27. ↑ 邱晨辉: “太空 中 的 华尔兹”. In: zqb.cyol.com. April 24, 2017, accessed January 2, 2020 (Chinese). 
28. ↑ 杨 雷 、 张柏楠 et al .: 新一代 多用途 载人 飞船 概念 研究. In: hkxb.buaa.edu.cn. March 31, 2015, accessed January 2, 2020 (Chinese). 
29. ↑ 田 兆 运 、 杨 茹 、 祁登峰: 长征 七号 搭载 的 缩 比 返回 舱 咋 从 天上 回到 地面？ In: 81.cn. June 26, 2016, accessed January 2, 2020 (Chinese). 
30. ↑ 空 天 松鼠: 再见 ， 大 钟！ 我国 新一代 载人 飞船 重磅 亮相 ， 目标 直指 载人 登月. In: t.cj.sina.com.cn. November 10, 2018, accessed January 2, 2020 (Chinese). 
31. ^ Andrew Jones: This Is China's New Spacecraft to Take Astronauts to the Moon. In: space.com. October 2, 2019, accessed on January 2, 2020 . 
32. ↑ 神 七 飞船 总设计师 是 张柏楠: 在 追求 中 圆梦. In: news.hit.edu.cn. September 19, 2008, accessed January 3, 2020 (Chinese). 
33. ↑ 杨 婷: 中华人民共和国 第十二届 全国 人民 代表 大会 代表 名单. In: xinhuanet.com. February 27, 2013, accessed January 3, 2020 (Chinese). 
34. ↑ 王娟: 飞船 总设计师 的 “新 名片”. In: zhuanti.spacechina.com. March 8, 2013, accessed January 3, 2020 (Chinese). 
35. ↑ 巩 阳: 中华人民共和国 第十 三届 全国 人民 代表 大会 代表 名单. In: xinhuanet.com. February 24, 2018, accessed January 3, 2020 (Chinese). 
36. ↑ 方圆 震: 第十 三届 全国 人民 代表 大会 八个 专门 委员会 主任 委员 、 副 主任 委员 、 委员 名单. In: gov.cn. March 19, 2018, accessed January 3, 2020 (Chinese). 
37. ↑ 神舟 天 舟 具备 执行 空间站 任务 能力. In: m.news.cctv.com. March 4, 2018, accessed January 3, 2020 (Chinese). 
38. ↑ 张柏楠 代表 ： 下一代 载人 飞船 可 登月 探 火. In: sciencenet.cn. March 19, 2018, accessed January 3, 2020 (Chinese).  To put it into perspective: in order to be able to fly to Mars under acceleration, so that the space travelers cannot arrive there after eight months in weightlessness with osteoporosis and cannot work, you need a nuclear drive . A small, fast breeder should be tested on a flight to the North Pole of the heliopause in 2030 .
39. ↑ 邓 孟 、 肖建军: 中国 载人 航天 工程 总设计师 系统 结构 实现 重塑 工程 全线 全力 备战 空间站 飞行 任务. In: cmse.gov.cn. October 17, 2019, accessed January 4, 2020 (Chinese). 

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Zhang is the family name here, Bainan is the first name.