China successfully launched the Shenzhou spacecraft – 12 with three astronauts on board to participate in the fine-tuning of their Tiangong space station , which the Asian country plans to have ready for 2022.
The ship took off at 09: 22 local time (01: 22 GMT), as scheduled, from the Jiuqian Satellite Launch Center, in the northwest of the country, through the Long March-2F carrier rocket.
“The takeoff was as planned, the solar panels were deployed correctly. The mission has been a complete success, ”said Zhang Zhifen, director of the Jiuqian center, during the launch, which was broadcast on CGTN state television.
At 15. 54 local time (07: 54 GMT), the ship was docked with the central module Tianhe (“Heavenly Harmony”, in Mandarin), which was launched last 29 to exercise control of the Tiangong space station (“Heavenly Palace”).
Thus, the astronauts Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo will remain in orbit for three months docked in the Tianhe module, which in turn is connected to the cargo ship Tianzhou-2, which contains supplies, suits, equipment and fuel, among other materials.
Astronaut Nie Haisheng has already participated in the Shenzhou-6 mission in 2005 and in Shenzhou – 10 on 2013, while for Liu Boming it is his second space flight after participating in the Shenzhou-7 mission in 2008. It is, on the contrary, the first mission of this type for the third astronaut, Tang Hongbo.
Its objective is “to verify the main technologies to build and operate the Tiangong Station ”, explained Ji Qiming, deputy director of CMSA, the Chinese agency dedicated to manned space missions, quoted by the local press.
Between Other tasks, the astronauts will need to check the oxygen recycling systems and other means of life support found in the Tianhe module.
They will also check the debris systems and test spacesuits to carry out two spacewalks or extravehicular activities (EVA), the name by which the operations carried out by astronauts outside the environment of a spacecraft are known.
“Your work will be more complicated and challenging than previous manned missions, ”said CMSA director Hao Chun, quoted by state agency Xinhua, adding that e spacewalks will be “more and more common” for Chinese astronauts in the following missions in the country.
Six more missions in 2022, two of them manned
China plans to carry out in total 11 launches -8 remaining, three of them manned- to complete the construction of the Tiangong , which will weigh about 70 tons.
The Tianzhou-3 cargo ship and the Shenzhou manned spacecraft will be launched later this year – 13 to also dock with the Tianhe module, for which they will have three other astronauts, this time they will orbit during e six months, CMSA explained.
The country plans to carry out the remaining six missions in 2022, including the launch of the Wentian and Mengtian lab-modules, as well as two other cargo spacecraft and two other manned spacecraft, to finish assembling the station. and that it can become operational.
According to Xinhua, the Tiangong station will orbit the Earth at an altitude between 340 and 450 kilometers , and is designed to last about 10 years, although experts cited by the agency trust that with proper maintenance it can last for more than 15 years.
The Tiangong will have a “T” shape, and the Tianhe will be located in the center, with the laboratory modules at each side.
In 2024, it is likely that Tiangong will become the only space station in the world if the International Space Station, an initiative led by the United States, is withdrawn that year as planned.
The program One of the objectives of the space station is to provide “a space laboratory that can be used for long stays for astronauts, as well as great experiments,” said Bai Linhou, one of those responsible for the design of the Tianhe module in April.
China has so far conducted six manned space missions, the last between October and November 2016 with the two crew of the Shenzhou capsule – 11, who conducted a series of experiments over a month in the Tiangong-2 orbital laboratory.
In recent years, the The Chinese space program has managed to land the Chang’e 4 probe on the far side of the Moon – the first time it has been achieved – and, in mid-May, arrive for the first time at Mart e, becoming the third country -after the United States and the former Soviet Union- to ship.
Continue Reading: Kim Jong-un acknowledges that the food situation in North Korea is “tense”