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China Is Launching Three Astronauts: What Does It Mean For NASA?

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On June 16, the Shenzhou 12 mission from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, launched their astronauts successfully which is also their first crewed spaceflight in the span of these five years!

First, China is sending its astronauts to Tianhe which is the core module of its new space station, the Tiangong space station. These astronauts will spend about three months in this China space station and after performing various tests, checking maintenance activities, etc China is launching three astronauts. In this article, we will discuss in detail the reasons why China sent a man to space after nearly five years.

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China launch a space station

The three astronauts headed to the country’s new space station after which the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert which is in the northern part of China. The entire launch is available for viewers to rewatch as the CCTV live stream is available. 

This launch was a success and within about 6.5 hours it was successfully docked with the station. Now, to talk about why this launch or sending a man to space is a big deal is that China has sent its “taikonauts” or their Chinese astronauts – Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming, and Tang Hongbo for the first time in five years. Its last launch was on October 17 in the year 2016, and it docked with China’s previous space station Tiangong-2. The Tiangong-2 space station is no longer orbiting around the Earth after it was deliberately deorbited in July 2019.

As of April, China launched a space station and involved itself in constructing its next-generation space station with the Tianhe core module, along with two additional modules within the span of 18 months. The Tianhe is ready for habitation and on the overall completion the station will provide an outpost for humans in the lower orbit of Earth for China, hence, allowing the country, and the countries as a partner with the nation to perform scientific experiments, for the coming decade.

In a press conference, Ji Qiming, from China’s Manned Space Agency said there are certain main objectives which this mission will look upon, that relates to verification of key technologies including:

  • Long term or providing longer duration which an astronaut can spend in orbit
  • environmental control such that it is regenerative and life support
  • Supply materials to the crew as well as supply the crew as well
  • Useful for extravehicular operations and other activities in space
  • Allow in orbit maintenance whenever required

China is launching three astronauts to its new space station which will also become the only other operational space station or habitat outside the International Space Station. Its dimensions are about a quarter of the International Space Station as of the completion of its construction which will finish as of 2022. However, the core module was started by the launch in April of this year.

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Why is China involved in constructing a new space station?

The main reason is the fact that exploring the scientific unknowns, such as space science understanding, human space flight capabilities, etc is the healthy or good side of geopolitics as it helps to bring in information useful on a global scale.

Another important reason is the effective barring of China and Chinese astronauts or their taikonauts from participating in any activity with the International Space Station (ISS) after the implementation of the law by US Congress which prevents American contact with China’s space program.

Hence, the same year, China launched its own new space station, the Tiangong-1. This operated for four years after which it was no longer in service. The reason behind Tiangong-1 shutting down, according to China’s space program is that it lost its control as of 2016, and almost two years later it came crashing down into the Pacific ocean, hence officially making it out of service. Then, the Tiangong-2 was sent as a follow-up space station but was later deliberately deorbited in 2019. On these tests and data China is launching three astronauts into their new space station named Tiangong.

It operated for just over four years before its service ended. China’s space program conceded it lost control of the station in early 2016 and, two years later, it came crashing down, landing in the Pacific Ocean. A follow-up station, Tiangong-2, was launched in 2016 and deliberately deorbited in 2019. Both provided a test bed for the new Chinese space station, which is simply named Tiangong. 

Deorbit of the Tianhe core module

After launching the core module, that is, the Tianhe module in April, it was set into orbit by a rocket booster. The purpose of the rocket booster was to set Tianhe into earth’s orbit and then deorbit or descend back. However, its deorbit was out of control hence raising several concerns as it may crash back into a populated habitat on Earth. Fortunately, it crashed in an unpopulated area of the Earth, into the Indian Ocean but still, it was close to the Maldives.

There have been several questions over China’s handling of the deorbiting process, and one of the first questions that journalists raised was at the press conference organized by Qiming as to how China was preparing in case of the Shenzhou 12’s booster falling back into Earth.

This was met with an answer along with the unasked question but an important notation as, “The last stages of all types of launchers that perform the space station missions have been treated with passivation technology and will not explode in orbit and generate space debris,” by Quiming using a translator. 

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In this article, we have discussed in detail about China is launching three astronauts after a few years and the reasons that make this launch important to understand. Hope this was useful in getting to know about China’s new space station as well as its launch.

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