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Three astronauts Lifted off to China’s nearly completed space station on Tuesday, marking the beginning of the country’s long-term presence in space.
It’s a major achievement for China’s ambitious space Program that has explored Mars and the far side of Mars. The milestone also means the aging International Space Station’s role as the sole venue for continuous human occupancy in Earth’s orbit is coming to an end.
These are the three astronauts Launched on the Shenzhou-15 spacecraft at 11 :08 p.m. (11:08 a.m. ET). ET) Tuesday, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center located in the Gobi Desert of Inner Mongolia. The Shenzhou-15 spacecraft should be ready for launch. to About 6.5 hours after launch, dock with Tiangong Space station.
Three arrived at once astronauts — Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu — will mark the first crew rotation on the space stationTwo teams overlap for five to Ten days before the Shenzhou-14 crew landed at the station In June, you can get your returns to Earth.
The Shenzhou-15 mission will finish the orbital outpost’s construction, expected by the end of December, and launch the first stage of “its application and development,” Ji Qiming is assistant to The China Manned Space Agency Director, stated at a Monday press conference, according to Xinhua state media
During the mission, to State media reports that the crew will also perform more than 40 experiments in the fields of space Science research space Medicine and space Technology is as important as three to four extravehicular activities — performed by astronauts In space suits.
After construction is complete, you can move in. space station It is to be expected to Lasts for up to 15 years. China Plans to Launch two crewed missions, and two cargo flights to The station Each year, according to CMSA.
Tiangong (which means “heavenly palace”) is smaller than that of the International Space Station, however it has a similar modular design. The new space station Three to six rooms are more common in a house than six. astronauts.
NASA officials claim it will retire the ISSThe collaboration between the US and Russia, Japan, Canada, and the European Space Agency was called ‘The Space Agency of the Future’ in 2030.
Russia has however threatened to take action to Stop the ISS from 2024 onwards, which would make it more difficult to operate the ISS, stated Dr. Stefania Padini, a Birmingham City University student in economics and global safety.
“There is no clarity about the future of the ISS after 2024. While the US seems committed to extend its life until 2030, Russia threatened to withdraw its participation after that date, (which would) make it extremely challenging to continue flying the ISS,” Paladini, author “The New Frontiers of Space: Economic Implications, Security Issues and Evolving Scenarios.”
“The Chinese Space Station may … end up remaining the only human presence in Earth’s orbit for a while.”
The new space station It is to be expected to Host around 1,000 scientific experiments during its life span.
The majority of the experiments that take place aboard the Tiangong will involve research from abroad. ChinaHowever, the country has invited experiments from international researchers, including how cancer tumors react to zero gravity.
China’s astronauts ISS has long excluded them, primarily because of their age. to US legislative restrictions and political objections CMSA however, astronauts have trained with their counterparts at the European Space Agency.
It’s not clear whether China We would be grateful astronauts From other countries to It space stationBut Molly Silk is a doctoral researcher at University of Manchester, UK. She focuses on China’s space Program, she said she believed it highly likely that international astronauts In the next years, they would be there.
“Several European astronauts have been learning Chinese in order to better cooperate with their Chinese counterparts, which suggests that a visit to the CSS could be on the cards. Pakistan has also been trying to coordinate with China to send their first astronaut to space,” She spoke.
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The inauguration of the space station’s two laboratory modules — Wentian and Mengtian — docked along the Tianhe core cabin, the main living space The following are the recommendations: astronauts.
Mengtian Lab was founded by China’s massive Long March 5B rocket, remnants of which made an uncontrolled reentry into Earth’s atmosphere in early November.
It was the fourth uncontrolled rocket reentry since Long March 5B. China’s space It was only two years old when the agency began flying it, because the vehicle was built without the proper equipment to steer itself to a safe landing.
NASA officials are furious China You take unnecessary risks. However, Tuesday’s launch involved China’s smaller Long March-2F rocket, used for human space flight, which experts have previously said It is less likely to produce hazardous debris.
