AP News reports, “A Chinese space ship carrying a three-person crew docked with its orbiting space station as the country seeks to expand its exploration of outer space in competition with the United States, even as it looks for cooperation from other nations. The team of two men and one woman will replace the astronauts who have lived on the Tiangong space station for the last six months, conducting a variety of experiments and maintaining the structure.”
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Tag: Tiangong Space Station
Chinese Spacewalkers Install Space-Junk Shielding on Tiangong Space Station
SPACE reports, “Two Chinese astronauts continued installing space debris protection outside the nation’s Tiangong space station” during a July 3 EVA. “Ye Guangfu and Li Cong, two members of the three-person Shenzhou 18 mission, spent about 6.5 hours working outside Tiangong on Wednesday (July 3). Li Guangsu assisted the expedition from inside Tiangong, operating the station’s robotic arm.”
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Chinese Astronauts Fix Tiangong Space Station Solar Wing in 8-hour Spacewalk
SPACE reports that a pair of Chinese astronauts spent eight hours outside their Tiangong Space Station last weekend to carry out repairs on solar arrays. According to the report, “it was the second extravehicular activity, or spacewalk, of the ongoing Shenzhou 17 crewed mission at China’s Tiangong space station.”
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China’s New Tiangong Space Station Now Operational
SPACE reports, “The International Space Station is no longer the only place where humans can live in orbit.” Chinese astronauts late last month reached the Tiangong space station, replacing “the existing crew that helped wrap up construction. With this successful mission, China has become just the third nation to operate a permanent space station.”
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BBC Profiles Tiangong Space Station
BBC News reports on China’s Tiangong space station. China “launched a 23-tonne research lab module to” the newly built station on Sunday. The Wentian laboratory “is expected to carry out biological and life science research.” Tiangong “will have its own power, propulsion, life support systems and living quarters. It is also designed to provide refuelling power to China’s new space telescope, called Xuntian, which will fly close to the space station next year.”
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Tianzhou Cargo Ship Docks With Tiangong Space Station
Spaceflight Now reports that the automated Tianzhou 3 supply ship “launched and docked with the Tiangong space station Monday, delivering supplies to support the next three-person crew on the complex for six months after their arrival in October.” The Tianzhou was mounted on a Long March 7 rocket and launched from the Wenchang base on Hainan Island.
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China Launches Last Space Station Module
AP reports, “China on Monday launched the third and final module to complete its permanent space station and realize a more than decade-long effort to maintain a constant crewed presence in orbit, as its competition with the U.S. grows increasingly fierce.” Mengtian lifted off aboard a Long March-5B Y4 carrier rocket Monday afternoon from China’s island province of Hainan. “Chen Dong, Cai Xuzhe and Liu Yang arrived in early June for a six-month stay on board, during which they will complete the station’s assembly, conduct space walks and carry out additional experiments.”
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Three Chinese Astronauts Arrive at Tiangong
SPACE reports that China’s “three-person Shenzhou 14 mission arrived at Tianhe, the core module of the under-construction Tiangong, early Sunday morning (June 5), about six hours after lifting off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert.” The three Shenzhou 14 crewmembers “are expected to spend about six months aboard the 54-foot-long (16.6 meters) Tianhe (‘Harmony of the Heavens’), which launched to low Earth orbit in April 2021.” The three taikonauts – Chen Dong, Liu Yang, and Cai Xuzhe – “will conduct a variety of scientific experiments and educational outreach activities, perform several spacewalks and install some new equipment inside and outside Tianhe.”
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China to Open Tiangong to Commercial Missions, Activities
Space News reported that China “is planning to open its space station to commercial missions and activities, according to a senior human spaceflight program official.” Chinese human spaceflight program Chief Designer Zhou Jianping said, “When our space station is completed and running, we will actively encourage the private sector to engage in space through various ways.” Zhou’s announcement “was the first indication that the national space station project would be opened up to the involvement of commercial companies.”
Full Story (Space News)