Core module's first occupants carrying out tasks as pioneering mission begins
Three Chinese astronauts have entered the core module of China's
permanent space station to embark on their three-month mission, becoming
the module's first occupants and pioneers in one of the nation's
grandest space endeavors.
Major General Nie Haisheng, Major General Liu Boming and Senior
Colonel Tang Hongbo floated into the core module, named Tianhe, or
Harmony of Heavens, at 6:48 pm on Thursday, after their Shenzhou XII
spaceship linked with the module in a low-Earth orbit about 390
kilometers above the Earth at 3:54 pm.
They have begun to carry out their tasks inside the craft, which is
the first and central section of China's space station, called Tiangong,
or Heavenly Palace.
The all-male crew, from the People's Liberation Army Astronaut
Division, was launched by a 20-story-tall Long March 2F carrier rocket,
which blasted off at 9:22 am at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in
northwestern China's Gobi Desert.
After about 10 minutes, the vehicle put the 8-metric-ton spaceship into the orbit to rendezvous and dock with Tianhe.
General Xu Qiliang, a vice-chairman of the Central Military
Commission and the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the Chinese
military, and a host of senior officials watched the mission's launch at
the Jiuquan center.
The three astronauts are tasked with testing and verifying plans,
technologies and equipment for crucial elements of the Tiangong
station's construction and operation, such as astronauts' long-term
mission arrangements, life-support system, in-orbit resupply,
extravehicular activity and spacecraft maintenance and repair.
They also will carry out other space tasks and experiments in Tianhe.
During the mission, the astronauts are scheduled to conduct two
extravehicular operations, or spacewalks, to use mechanical arms to
install equipment and check Tianhe's external condition.
Their work will enable the China Manned Space Agency to accumulate
experience and check the capability, performance and compatibility of
systems involved in the space station program to prepare for the next
steps in its construction, according to Ji Qiming, the agency's
assistant director.
The astronauts' host craft, the Tianhe core module, was lifted by a
Long March 5B heavy-lift rocket at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in
Hainan province on April 29.
Tianhe, the biggest and heaviest spacecraft China has constructed, is
16.6 meters long and has a diameter of 4.2 meters. The craft's weight,
at 22.5 tons, is equal to the combined weight of 15 standardsize
automobiles. It has three parts-a connecting section, a life-support and
control section and a resources section.
The module is central to the Tiangong station's construction and
operations, given that astronauts will live there and control the entire
station from inside. It will also be used to host scientific and
technological experiments.
The craft is now connected with the Tianzhou 2 robotic cargo ship,
which was launched by a Long March 7 rocket from the Wenchang facility
on May 29. The two craft docked with each other the next day.
Currently, Tianzhou 2 contains living materials and mission payloads
for the Shenzhou XII crew to use, as well as propellants that will be
used to refuel the core module.
Based on project plans, the Tianzhou 3 cargo ship will be launched in
September to dock with Tianhe, and in October, another three-crew team
will fly with the Shenzhou XIII to the module to stay there for six
months.
In 2022, two large space labs will be launched to connect with the
core module. Moreover, two manned missions and two robotic cargo flights
will be made to continue construction of the Tiangong station, which is
scheduled to be completed for formal operation to begin around the end
of 2022.
One of China's most adventurous space endeavors, Tiangong will
consist of three main components-a core module attached to two space
labs-with a combined weight of nearly 70 metric tons. The entire station
is set to work for about 15 years.
Upon its completion, Tiangong will be manned regularly by groups of
three astronauts in periods lasting several months. During handovers to
new three-astronaut groups, the station will accommodate up to six
astronauts.