 room’ is located at the height of 29 metres to 42 metres inside the tower body.
The underground launch control centre is responsible for monitoring and controlling the assembling of the launch vehicle and spacecraft remotely, co-ordinating the communications between the launch complex and the technical area, weather forecasting, and medical assistance. It consisted of a firing room, three spacecraft test rooms, and two launch vehicle test rooms, supported by power supply, air-conditioning system, and communication system.
The North Technical Centre (Site 7), located 22 kilometres south of the launch site, was the rocket and spacecraft processing and rollout area. Launch vehicles and spacecraft were transported from their manufacturing factories to the technical centre via railway. Once the initial processing was completed, the stages of the launch vehicle were transported on truck-towed trailers to the launch pad, where they were hoisted into position on the launch pad, checked, fuelled and launched.
The core structure of the technical centre was the launch vehicle and spacecraft processing complex (BLS). The building consisted of a 90 m x 8 m processing hall for rocket and satellite preparation, and a 24 m x 8 m processing hall for satellite fuelling. There was also a clean room for satellite testing. The launch vehicle stages and satellite were transported to the building via a dedicated railway line. A second building in the centre was the Solid Rocket Motor Checkout and Processing Building (BM), where the solid rocket motor on the satellite was prepared.
The South Launch Site (SLS), or Launch Complex 43, is only active launch complex in Jiuquan. It consists of two launch pads (“921” and “603”) and a technical centre for vehicle processing and checkout.
Pad 921 (SLS-1), also known as the “Shenzhou Pad”, (Longitude: 100°17.4’E; Latitude: 40°57.4’N; Elevation above sea-level: 1,073 m) is the primary launch pad in SLS. The launch pad is dedicated for the launch of the Shenzhou crew vehicle and space laboratory modules, using the CZ-2F launch vehicle. Facilities of the launch pad include an umbilical tower, a mobile launcher platform, a pair of flame ducts, underground equipment room, propellant and oxidiser storages, rocket fuelling system, power supply, gas supply, and communication system.
The umbilical tower is an 11-floor, 75-metre-high steel structure, designed to provide propellant loading and drainage, gas, power and communication links to the launch vehicle and its onboard spacecraft on the launch pad. It also provides facilities for pre-launch checkouts and crew entrance and emergency exit. The tower is equipped with a loading crane, a cargo elevator, and an explosion-proof elevator for the mission crew. In time of emergency, a canvas slide escaping system is available for astronauts to exit the launch pad. Power supply and other support equipment are located inside an underground room underneath the umbilical tower.
The umbilical tower comprises a fixed structure and a pair of six-floor rotating platforms. Once the launch vehicle stack arrives at the launch pad, the rotating platforms are swung to ‘embrace’ the launch vehicle to allow the fuelling and final checkout procedures to be conducted. The tower also contains an environmentally controlled and protected area for astronauts to enter the spacecraft. Rotating platforms are swung open one hour prior to launch. Four swing arms provide connections for electricity, gases and fluids to the launch vehicle, and are retracted few minutes before launch.
During the launch, flames and high-temperature exhaust from the rocket engines of the launch vehicle are directed into the concrete flames trench via a large round hole beneath the mobile launcher platform. The flames and gases are then deflected away from the launch vehicle via two rectangle-shape flame ducts located on either side of the launch pad.
The mobile launcher platform carries the launch vehicle and spacecraft ‘stack’ from the vehicle assembly building situated in the technical area to the umbilical tower. The platform is 24.4 m in length, 21.7 m in width, and 8.34 m in height, and weights 750 t. It moves on a 20 m-wide rail track at a maximum speed of 25 m/min, with an acceleration rate less than 0.2 m/sec. It takes the platform 60 minutes to complete the 1,500 m journey between the assembly building and the launch pad.
Pad 603 (SLS-2), also known as “Jianbing Pad”, was commissioned in 2003 to support satellite launches to Low Earth orbit using the CZ-2C, CZ-2D and CZ-4B launch vehicles. Facilities at the pad include a reinforced concrete umbilical tower and a single flame duct. The pad has adopted a traditional launch method, where the launch vehicle is assembled vertically on the pad, using a crane to hoist each stage into place. The launch vehicle is checked out while standing on the pad, fuelled, and then launched.
The support facilities in SLS, collectively known as the South Technical Centre, include Launch Vehicle Horizontal Processing Building (BL1), Launch Vehicle Vertical Assembly Building (BLS), Spacecraft Non-Hazardous Operation Building (BS2), Spacecraft Hazardous Operation Building (BS3), Solid Rocket Motor Checkout and Processing Building (BM), Pyrotechnic Storage and Processing Building (BP1, BP2), and Launch Control Console (LCC). The facility was designed to receive the launch vehicle and payload for assembly and testing, before they are moved to the launch pad.
For a Shenzhou mission, the launch campaign typically begins approximately two months prior to launch. The CZ-2F launch vehicle is transported in separate segments from 211 Plant in Beijing to the South Technical Centre via railway. Upon its arrival the vehicle is kept in the Launch Vehicle Horizontal Processing Building for initial testing and preparation. The core vehicle and strap-on boosters of the launch vehicle are then assembled inside BLS (the Vertical Assembly Building).
The Shenzhou spacecraft is transported from Beijing to the Dingxin Air Base by cargo plane, and then transported by road to the launch site 76 km away. The spacecraft is assembled and tested in the Spacecraft Non-Hazardous Operation Building (BS2), and then moved to the Spacecraft Hazardous Operation Building (BS3) for fuelling. The next step is to integrate the spacecraft with the payload fairing and to install the launch escape tower. The completed spacecraft is then transported to BLS, where it is integrated with the launch vehicle.
The iconic vehicle assembly building, officially known as the Launch Vehicle Vertical Assembly Building (or BLS in its code name) serves as a platform for launch vehicle assembly and payload integration. The building consists of two 26.8 m x 28 m x 81.6 m vertical-processing halls, each equipped with 13-floor moveable platform and a 50 t-load crane. The two processing halls in the building allow simultaneous processing of two launch vehicles. At the time of construction, it was said to be the world’s tallest single-floor concrete building, with the world’s tallest (86.1 m above the floor) and heaviest (13,000 t) concrete roof.
The Launch Control Console (LCC) located beside BLS monitors and coordinates the launch campaign. The console is divided into four functional rooms: Launch Vehicle Control Room, Spacecraft Control Room, Examination and Launch Command Room, and Communication Centre.
The Dongfeng Space City (Site 10), located 6.5 km west of the South Launch Site, is the main administrative headquarters and Launch Control Centre. It also accommodates the astronaut apartment, offices, barracks, and residential areas for the centre’s staff and their families. The site is effectively a small city, with its own power station, water processing plant, railway lines, schools, bank branches, post office, shops, hotels and leisure centre. A reservoir (Site 12) is located 8 km southwest of the city.
The Dashuli tracking station is located 36 km southwest of the South Launch Site. The facility was originally built in 1968 to support missile testing, and has since then become the nerve centre of Jiuquan’s telemetry, tracking and command (TT&C) network consisting of several optical and radar tracking post dotted around the launch centre. These facilities are responsible for tracking the launch vehicle from take-off until around 500 seconds into the flight using the optical tracking telescope and tracking radar, and receiving measurements of the vehicle’s key variables transmitted through the onboard telemetry antennas.
The tracking station consists of radar, optical, communication, computer, meteorology, and technical and logistic support sub-systems. The control hall of the station is equipped with over 30 control consoles, displaying in real-time 120 sets of data indicating the trajectory of the launch vehicle, and the live status of the rocket and its cargo. The data are transmitted in real-time to the MCCC in the headquarters to support its decision-making.
China Space Report was created in June 2016, to provide background information, news and independent analysis on China’s space programme and aerospace industry.I take 1200 mg Gabapentin...
I take 1200 mg Gabapentin tid. Lately I have tried 1800mg tid. Is that too much?
Hi Marcia, i don't know the highest possible dose for gabapentin, however you should never adjust the dose of any prescription drug without your drs approval or instructions. You should wait til you see him and ask if s/he wants you to titrate upwards. Hope this helps.
I'm prescribed 4 600mg Gabapentin a day for over 8 yrs so in my non-doctor opinion I wouldn't sweat that WITH THAT DRUG anything else like the other poster had said don't mess with it without talking to a doctor. I was 32 when I started taking