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China launches main part of its 1st permanent space station


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China on Thursday launched the main module of its first permanent space station that will host astronauts long term, the latest success for a program that has realized a number of its growing ambitions in recent years.

The Tianhe, or "Heavenly Harmony," module blasted into space atop a Long March 5B rocket from the Wenchang Launch Center on the southern island province of Hainan, marking another major advance for the country's space exploration.

The launch begins the first of 11 missions necessary to complete, supply and crew the station by the end of next year.

https://phys.org/news/2021-04-china-main-1st-permanent-space.html

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China's cargo spacecraft docks with space station module

China's cargo spacecraft, carrying supplies, equipment and propellant, docked with the space station's key module Tianhe on Sunday, the official news agency Xinhua reported.

The Tianzhou-2, or "Heavenly Vessel" in Chinese, autonomously rendezvoused and docked with Tianhe at 5:01 a.m. Beijing time, Xinhua said Sunday.

It blasted off via a Long March-7 Y3 rocket at 8:55 p.m. Beijing time on Saturday from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the southern island of Hainan, the China Manned Space Engineering Office said.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/30/asia/china-cargo-space-station-dock-intl-hnk-scn/index.html

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China to send 3 male astronauts to its space station in June

A three-man crew of astronauts will blast off in June for a three-month mission on China's new space station, according to a space official who was the country's first astronaut in orbit.

The plans for the station's first crew were confirmed to state television by Yang Liwei, the manned space program's deputy chief designer, as an automated spacecraft was launched with fuel and supplies for the Tianhe station.

The Shenzhou 12 capsule carrying the crew will be launched from the Jiuquan base in China's northwest next month, Yang said in comments broadcast Saturday by China Central Television.

They will practice spacewalks and conduct repairs and maintenance as well as scientific operations.

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-chinese-astronauts-space-station-month.html

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Rocket on pad, China ready to send 1st crew to space station

The Long March-2F Y12 rocket carrying the Shenzhou-12 spaceship was transferred to the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Wednesday, the China Manned Space Engineering Office said in a brief statement. Its tentative launch date is next Wednesday.

The space agency plans a total of 11 launches through the end of next year to deliver two laboratory modules to expand the 70-ton station, along with supplies and crew members. Next week's launch will be the third of those, and the first of the four crewed missions planned.

Another cargo mission is planned for September, shortly after which a replacement crew will be sent up, according to reports. The station's other two modules are expected to be launched next year.

https://phys.org/news/2021-06-rocket-crew-chinese-space-station.html

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China is set to launch three astronauts into orbit to begin occupation of the country's new space station.

The three men - Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo - are expected to spend three months living and working aboard the Tianhe module some 380km (236 miles) above the Earth.

It will be China's longest crewed space mission to date and the first in nearly five years.

Their Shenzhou-12 capsule is primed atop its Long March 2F rocket.

Lift-off from the Jiuquan satellite launch centre in the Gobi desert is expected at 09:22 Beijing time on Thursday (01:22 GMT).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57504052

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14 hours ago, Eldorado said:

Lift-off from the Jiuquan satellite launch centre in the Gobi desert is expected at 09:22 Beijing time on Thursday (01:22 GMT).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57504052

The BBC has updated their article to show the launch.

Watch: China successfully launches three astronauts into orbit

Quote

China has launched three astronauts into orbit to begin occupation of the country's new space station.

The three men - Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo - are to spend three months aboard the Tianhe module some 380km (236 miles) above the Earth.

It will be China's longest crewed space mission to date and the first in nearly five years.

The crew successfully docked with the space station just over seven hours after the launch.

 

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We now have, in orbit, two crewed space stations, 3 crewed spacecraft (1 Soyuz, 1 Crew Dragon and 1 Shenzhou) and 10 astronauts representing 5 nations (3 Americans, 3 Chinese, 2 Russian, 1 Japanese and 1 French).

We live in interesting times.

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Astronauts complete first spacewalk at China's new Tiangong station

Chinese astronauts successfully performed the country's first tandem spacewalk on Sunday, working for seven hours on the outside of the new Tiangong station in orbit around Earth.

Tiangong's construction is a major step in China's ambitious space programme, which has seen the nation land a rover on Mars and send probes to the Moon.

Three astronauts blasted off last month to become the station's first crew, where they are to remain for three months in China's longest crewed mission to date.

On Sunday morning, two of them exited the station for around seven hours of work in the first spacewalk at Tiangong, the China Manned Space Agency said.

"The safe return of astronauts Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo to the Tianhe core module marks the complete success of the first spacewalk in our country's space station construction," the space agency said.

https://phys.org/news/2021-07-chinese-astronauts-space-station.html

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Did the Long March vehicle fall back to earth safely?

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Astronauts return to Earth after China's longest space mission

Three Chinese astronauts have returned to Earth after completing the country's longest crewed space mission.

They spent 90 days at the Tianhe module on China's space station, some 380km (240 miles) above Earth.

The three men had on Thursday boarded the Shenzhou-12 crewed spacecraft and undocked from the space station.

The successful mission is another demonstration of China's growing confidence and capability in the space domain.

Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Honbo touched down in the Gobi desert in Inner Mongolia at around 13:35 local time (05:35 GMT) on Friday.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-58554332

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