China's taikonauts return from heavenly palace after 92-day mission
(2021/09/20)
- Reference: 1632113828
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/09/20/shenzhou_12_crew_return/
- Source link:
The first crewed mission to China's space station has ended successfully.
Taikonauts Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming, and Tang Hongbo returned to Earth last week, after their Shenzhou 12 capsule descended beneath parachutes and touched the soil of Inner Mongolia.
The trio spent 90 days docked at China's Tiangong space station, a facility the nation says will soon be permanently crewed. The three taikonauts undertook many tasks to make that possible, among them a pair of spacewalks to ready the station for the connection of more modules.
[1]
Tiangong is currently comprised of just one module: Tianhe is 16.6 metres long, 4.2 metres in diameter, and includes life support hardware.
[2]China sprayed space with 3,000 pieces of junk. US military officials want rules to stop that sort of thing
[3]Roam if you want to: China’s Zhurong rover begins trundling on Mars
[4]China celebrates third year of operations on the far side of the moon
China plans to fit two more modules in 2022, and eleven launches to build the station into its final "T-shaped" form.
One of those missions, Tianzhou-2, launched in May. Once the three taikonauts left the station, it repositioned itself from Tiangong's rear docking port to its forward port. The automated procedure took four hours.
[5]
The crewed mission set all sorts of spaceflight duration records for China, with commander Nie Haisheng becoming the first Chinese citizen to travel into space twice. He's now clocked up 111 days outside the surly bonds of Earth – a span that places him 168th on the all-time ranking of human space-dwellers.
China's keen to have more crew spend time in space for strategic, scientific, and publicity purposes. Tiangong is considered a testbed that will have a life of around a decade. The nation hasn't announced firm plans for a successor station, but is researching the feasibility of larger outposts – including a [6]lunar base built in co-operation with Russia . ®
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[2] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/07/space_debris_regulation/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/24/zhurong_on_the_move/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2021/01/05/chinas_change_4_moon_probe_third_year/
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[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/16/russia_and_china_ilrs/
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Taikonauts Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming, and Tang Hongbo returned to Earth last week, after their Shenzhou 12 capsule descended beneath parachutes and touched the soil of Inner Mongolia.
The trio spent 90 days docked at China's Tiangong space station, a facility the nation says will soon be permanently crewed. The three taikonauts undertook many tasks to make that possible, among them a pair of spacewalks to ready the station for the connection of more modules.
[1]
Tiangong is currently comprised of just one module: Tianhe is 16.6 metres long, 4.2 metres in diameter, and includes life support hardware.
[2]China sprayed space with 3,000 pieces of junk. US military officials want rules to stop that sort of thing
[3]Roam if you want to: China’s Zhurong rover begins trundling on Mars
[4]China celebrates third year of operations on the far side of the moon
China plans to fit two more modules in 2022, and eleven launches to build the station into its final "T-shaped" form.
One of those missions, Tianzhou-2, launched in May. Once the three taikonauts left the station, it repositioned itself from Tiangong's rear docking port to its forward port. The automated procedure took four hours.
[5]
The crewed mission set all sorts of spaceflight duration records for China, with commander Nie Haisheng becoming the first Chinese citizen to travel into space twice. He's now clocked up 111 days outside the surly bonds of Earth – a span that places him 168th on the all-time ranking of human space-dwellers.
China's keen to have more crew spend time in space for strategic, scientific, and publicity purposes. Tiangong is considered a testbed that will have a life of around a decade. The nation hasn't announced firm plans for a successor station, but is researching the feasibility of larger outposts – including a [6]lunar base built in co-operation with Russia . ®
Get our [7]Tech Resources
[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YUhb4c1@8rykZTwnSN54ggAAAVA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/07/space_debris_regulation/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/24/zhurong_on_the_move/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2021/01/05/chinas_change_4_moon_probe_third_year/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YUhb4c1@8rykZTwnSN54ggAAAVA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/16/russia_and_china_ilrs/
[7] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: why aren't they going to the ISS?
Anonymous Coward
I guess one reason might be the ISS was started 23 years ago with a 30-year lifespan, with individual modules having a 15-year one. So it's already past its date, even if said date keep being postponed. The Russians themselves don't seem very keen on keeping it running.
Also, with their current domestic politics aimed at China, I really doubt the US would extend an invitation.
Re: why aren't they going to the ISS?
knoxy
China have been effectively banned since 2011 when the Americans passed a law on grounds of National Security.
Re: why aren't they going to the ISS?
Potemkine!
I guess China doesn't like international cooperation, and wants everything to be done its way.
For everything related to space, it's China alone. I doubt they will cooperate with Russia.
why aren't they going to the ISS?
Why aren't they going to the ISS? They could have docked a similar module to the ISS and still would have their own thing going.
I understand their desire to have their own modules and stuff, but are they avoiding the international community by having "their own" instead?
(I'm mostly just curious)
It's good their taikonauts returned safely though. Good job.