China is successfully realizing its space ambitions. Yesterday, June 17, China successfully sent three astronauts to its own space station "Tiangong" ("Heavenly Palace").
The Long March-2F Y12 rocket launched from the spaceport in the Gobi Desert in northwestern China. It will deliver the Shenzhou-12 manned spacecraft with three taikonauts (the so-called cosmonauts in China) to orbit. They will have to "settle" on the Chinese space station under construction.
Sending the first crew to the Chinese Space Station
Within three months, the Taikonauts will work on the arrangement of the orbital station and prepare it for full commissioning. It is expected that during this time, the crew, among other things, will conduct several spacewalks, as well as the installation and maintenance of equipment. Before the station is fully completed, China plans to conduct 11 more such missions.
The Shenzhou-12 mission is China's first manned space flight in five years. In December 2020, the Chinese probe Chang'e-5 delivered about 2 kg of lunar soil to Earth, and in May 2021, China successfully delivered a probe to the surface of Mars for the first time. Currently, he is studying the geological structure of the Red Planet, conducting a chemical analysis of the composition of its soil, as well as searching for biomolecules and biosignatures.
The construction of the orbital station will continue for about a year. During this time, it is planned to dock two space laboratories to the main module, conduct a permanent rotation of the station's personnel, as well as carry out several cargo deliveries. When fully assembled, the station will have a mass of about 70 tons. "Tiangong "is designed to work for fifteen years. Seventeen countries have already confirmed their participation in nine scientific projects at the Chinese space station.
