China sends 3 astronauts to space station

The South China Morning Post reported that the Shenzhou spacecraft had left the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert, to the north. China and is expected to connect to the main compartment of Thien Hoa station, located 400km above the ground, after a journey of less than 7 hours.

China’s manned space agency announced that Shenzhou 14 had separated from the booster rocket and entered a predetermined orbit about 577 seconds after launch and the crew was in good condition, the launch was successful. .

According to the plan, these 3 astronauts will coordinate with the control center on the ground to complete the assembly and construction of Thien Cung from a space station with only one module into a national space laboratory of 3. module: Thien Hoa core module and 2 experimental modules Wentian and Mong Thien.

The Thien Hoa module, inhabited by astronauts, was launched first and is the largest module. The Wentian and Mengtian modules will be launched in July and October respectively. Shenzhou 14 mission commander Chen Dong, 43, and his teammates Liu Yang, 43, and Cai Xuzhe, 46, are both pilots. China’s second generation astronaut, will live and work on the space station for 180 days and then return to Earth in December this year.

When the astronauts’ mission is completed by the end of this year, the Tiangong space station will be fully operational, the China Daily reports. The space station is designed to last up to 15 years and is open to foreign astronauts.

The three-module Tiangong space station could be expanded into four in the future, the deputy space station designer told Chinese media.

Before Thien Cung, the only working space station was the International Space Station, which was a joint effort of several national aeronautical agencies, including NASA of the US and Roscosmos of Russia.

Le Phan