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The three members of the first crew to be sent to China’s space station say they’re eager to get to work making their home for the next three months habitable, setting up testing and experiments and preparing for a series of spacewalks.
Highlights
- It will be China's longest crewed space mission to date and the first in nearly five years.
- The crew successfully docked with the space station just over seven hours after the launch.
- The primary objective for Commander Nie Haisheng and his team on the Shenzhou-12 mission is to bring the 22.5-tonne Tianhe module into service.
- The mission is the third of 11 planned through next year to add the additional sections to the station and send up crews and supplies.
Background
- The main living section of the station was launched in April while the other two modules will be primarily for scientific work.
- The mission builds on experience China gained from earlier operating two experimental space stations.
- It also landed a probe on Mars last month that carried a rover, the Zhurong, and earlier landed a probe and rover on the moon and brought back the first lunar samples by any country’s space program since the 1970s.
- Once completed, the station will allow for stays of up to six months, similar to the much larger International Space Station.
Fa
cilities to astronauts
- All astronauts will have their own living area, and a stationary bike and other exercise equipment will allow them to counter some of the effects of weightlessness.
- They'll also be able to bring personal items to remind them of home and stave off boredom while not working.
- The Chinese station reportedly is intended to be used for 15 years and may outlast the International Space Station, which is nearing the end of its functional lifespan.
Source: The Hindu
