After their record flight, three Chinese astronauts landed safely on Earth. The capsule carrying astronaut Wang Yaping and her two male colleagues, Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu, arrived early Saturday in the Gobi Desert in the country’s northwest. The return flight from the space station, which orbits about 400 kilometers above Earth, took just over nine hours. Things didn’t go as smoothly for NASA, however.
The taikonauts had spent six months aboard the core module of the future Chinese space station. Thus, the crew of “Shenzhou 13” (Magic Ship) was in space longer than other Chinese astronauts before them – almost twice as long as the previous Chinese record last year.
During their time in space, the Taikonauts undertook two spacewalks, conducted a series of experiments and prepared the further expansion of the space station known as “Tiangong” (celestial palace). Wang Yaping was not only the first Chinese astronaut aboard the core module called “Tianhe” (Heavenly Harmony), but also the first Chinese woman to take a spacewalk.
In the next phase, a cargo flight is planned in May to provide materials and fuel for the Shenzhou 14 flight expected in June. While the three-person crew of “Shenzhou 14” will stay in the main body of the future space station, two more modules will be launched into space for expansion later in the year.
Another cargo flight and manned mission, Shenzhou 15, may be scheduled for late 2022. After that, six astronauts will have to stay on the space station temporarily and the construction phase of the space station should be completed.
NASA canceled ground test of moon rocket system again
However, things did not go so smoothly for NASA: For the third time, the US space agency canceled an unmanned ground test of the new lunar rocket system “Artemis” on Friday. NASA said there was a problem with a leak in the Cape Canaveral spaceport. A new attempt could possibly be started next week. The test of the “Artemis” missile system had previously been canceled twice due to various problems.
The missile system for the “Artemis” mission – consisting of the “Space Launch System” rocket and the “Orion” capsule – was first deployed for test purposes at Cape Canaveral, Florida, in mid-March. The next step is the “Wet Dress Rehearsal”, which has since been canceled again. All processes are practiced up to the actual start.
With the “Artemis” mission, American astronauts would land on the moon again by 2024, including a woman for the first time. Due to numerous delays, this is now planned for 2025 at the earliest. Four astronauts are taken into orbit on the “Orion” spacecraft, where two of them turn into a landing vehicle. There will also be some sort of space station on the moon, also as a base for a manned flight to Mars – but that won’t happen until the distant future.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
