Chinese astronauts accept 1st Earth-space interview

Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong talk with their copy desk on earth for the first time on Tuesday. [Photo/Xinhua]

Jing Haipeng: We need to sweep Tiangong clean before leaving and take away items that should be taken away; this is very important. Some trash, if left aboard Tiangong, will be dangerous. To make Tiangong's follow-up tasks possible, they must be taken away. Residual food waste, sanitary product waste, and some trash created during in-orbit experiments, including batteries and electrodes, will be packed and placed in the orbital compartment. The trash will then crash into the atmosphere and be destroyed together with the compartment.

Different from throwing trashes into waste containers on Earth, we need to put them into compressed bags, similar to vacuum bags that are used to pack quilts at home. There is a valve in the center, and after the zipping we use a pump to remove the air.

Zhang Jianli: Compression and sorting of the waste will ensure that it does not take up too much of the astronauts activity space. Also, if the waste is exposed to the air, it will quickly begin to smell. The space station in the future will have waste processors similar to compressors, and could also have a big waste container or waste zone.

Chen Dong: Setting up the conditions before departure is similar to turning off the water and electricity before leaving a house for a long time. Tiangong-2 will be used in the long-term and dock with space cargo ships. We have to make sure that electricity, water, gas and communications are set up properly. In total there are 40-50 conditions to set up.

People nationwide and Chinese around the world care about us very much. Thank you all for your consistent care and support! Hope you will continue to pay attention to spaceflight and the development of our manned space program.