Tiangong-1 to Carry out Experiments Pertinent to People's Lives

China's first space lab module will carry out scientific experiments in space, and the results may have considerable effects on people's lives, said Zhang Shancong, deputy chief designer of the space application system of the country's manned space program, on Thursday.

"A hyperspectral imager used for monitoring the Earth's environment can detect air pollution, distribution of the country's mineral, oil and gas, and oceanic resources," Zhang said, adding that the equipment can also be used for monitoring heavy metals in crops to promote food safety.

The unmanned Tiangong-1 module is to be launched Thursday evening.

Zhang said the greatest difficulty for space experiments is that every test is a new one and only a limited number of experiments can be conducted with the limited resources the module carries.

But once a manned space station is established, the number of space experiments will skyrocket, and resources available for such experiments will also increase significantly, according to Zhang.

China has planned to set up a manned space station around 2020, the ultimate purpose of which is to "carry out a large number of scientific experiments," Zhang said.

Once established, the space station is expected to host experiments in eight fields, such as materials science in space, space physics and environment, space astronomy and new technologies for space applications, according to Zhang.

The country's manned space program office will soon start to solicit proposals for experiments and projects at the space station.

"People from different research institutes, enterprises, colleges and people of all walks of life throughout the country will have an opportunity to participate in experiments at the space station in different ways," Zhang said.

The experiments designed for the Tiangong-1 will last throughout the two-year operation of the module, and the experiment data will be shared with other scientific research institutes, Zhang said.

More than 100 scientific experiments have been carried out in space by the Chinese since the unmanned Shenzhou-1 spacecraft was launched in 1999, according to Zhang.