China sent another team of astronauts to its new space station “Tiangong” (Heaven’s Palace) on Tuesday. The trio embarked aboard the “Shenzhou-15” starship from the Jiuquan Cosmodrome in the northwest of the People’s Republic. A “Long March 2F” rocket took them into space, as shown live on state television.
The spacecraft reached orbit about nine minutes after launch, and the solar modules deployed a few minutes later. If everything goes according to plan, the “Shenzhou-15” will later automatically dock with the space station. The crew consists of astronauts Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu.
The trio will live in the newly completed space station for five days with their colleagues Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe. The current crew of “Heaven’s Palace” will then return to Earth. The new crew will stay on the space station for about six months. China wants to operate “Tiangong” for about ten years.
For its ambitious goals, China has invested billions in its space program. China has already successfully deployed a reconnaissance vehicle to Mars. There have also been several missions to the moon.
Working on reusable spaceship
The Chinese are also currently working on a reusable spacecraft that could be deployed by 2025. Rock samples from the polar regions of the moon will be brought to Earth over the next five years. Plans are also being worked out with Russia for a research station on the moon.
Source: Krone
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