[ad_1]
The mission plans to set a new record for the length of stay of Chinese astronauts in space.
China has launched a six-month three-person crew on its space station, and plans to set a new record for the time spent by Chinese astronauts in space as China completes its orbital structure.
The Shenzhou 13 spacecraft carrying three astronauts was launched from the Long March 2F rocket at 12:25 local time on Saturday morning (04:25 GMT Friday).
It is expected to complete the docking with the Tianhe cabin in the next 6 hours, start the mission, and continue the work of the first three crew members who will spend 90 days on board. The crew performed two spacewalks and deployed a 10-meter (33-foot) robotic arm before returning to Earth in mid-September.
The new crew includes two space travel veterans-55-year-old pilot Zhai Zhigang and 41-year-old Wang Yaping, who are the only women on the mission-and 41-year-old Ye Guangfu, which is his first space travel.
The crew was sent away by a military band and supporters singing odes to the motherland, which underscored the national pride carried by China’s rapidly advancing space program in recent years.
The crew’s scheduled activities include up to 3 space walks to install equipment, prepare for expansion of the space station, evaluate the living conditions in the cabin, and conduct experiments in space medicine and other fields.
China’s military space program plans to send multiple astronauts to the space station in the next two years to make it fully operational. Shenzhou 13 is the fifth mission of the structure, including travel without crew to deliver supplies.
With the addition of the other two modules-Mengtian and Wentian-upon completion, the space station will weigh about 66 tons, which is a small part of the International Space Station. The International Space Station launched its first module in 1998 and weighed about 450 after completion. Ton.
The other two Chinese modules will be launched during the stay of the unnamed Shenzhou 14 crew before the end of next year.
On Friday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed its commitment to cooperation with other countries in the peaceful use of space.
Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that sending mankind into space is “a common cause of mankind.” China will “continue to expand the depth and breadth of international cooperation and exchanges in the field of manned spaceflight” and “make positive contributions to the exploration of the mysteries of the universe.” universe”.
China was excluded from the International Space Station mainly because the secret nature of the United States’ opposition to China’s plan and close military ties prompted it to launch two experimental modules before launching the permanent space station.
U.S. law requires that contact between the U.S. and China’s space programs require Congress’s approval, but China is cooperating with space experts from France, Sweden, Russia, and Italy.
Chinese officials have stated that they look forward to receiving astronauts from other countries on the space station after the space station is fully operational.
Since 2003, China has launched 7 manned missions with a total of 14 astronauts. At that time, China became the third country to send people into space by itself after the former Soviet Union and the United States. Two Chinese astronauts have flown twice.
In addition to manned missions, China has also expanded its lunar and Mars exploration efforts, including placing a rover on the far side of the lesser-known moon, and returning lunar rocks to Earth for the first time since the 1970s.
China also landed the Tianwen-1 space probe on Mars this year, and its accompanying Zhurong probe has been exploring evidence of life on this red planet.
Other Chinese space programs require collecting soil from asteroids and bringing back more lunar samples. China has also expressed its desire to allow humans to land on the moon and possibly establish a scientific base on the moon, although there is no timetable for such projects. According to reports, a highly classified space plane is also under development.
[ad_2]
Source link