China sending up subsequent house station crew in June

China will launch three extra astronauts to its latest house station in June after the most recent crew returned this weekend following a six-month keep in orbit, an official stated Sunday.

The crew of the Shenzhou 14 capsule will spend six months on the Tiangong so as to add two modules to the station, Hao Chun, director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office, advised a information convention.

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China’s bold house programme launched its first astronaut into orbit in 2003, landed robotic rovers on the moon in 2013, and on Mars final yr. Officials have mentioned a doable crewed mission to the moon.

The core module of the Tiangong, or Heavenly Palace, was launched in April 2021. Plans name for finishing development this yr.

The Wentian module will likely be launched in July and the Mengtian module in October, Hao stated.

Near the tip of the Shenzhou 14 crew’s mission, three extra astronauts will likely be launched aboard Shenzhou 15 for a six-month keep, Hao stated. He added that the 2 crews would overlap for 3 to 5 days, marking the primary time the station has six folks aboard.

On Saturday, the crew of Shenzhou 13 landed within the Gobi desert within the northern area of Inner Mongolia.

During the mission, astronaut Wang Yaping carried out the primary spacewalk by a Chinese girl. Wang, commander Zhai Zhigang and crewmate Ye Guangfu additionally beamed again physics classes for highschool college students.

China was the third nation to launch an astronaut into house by itself after the previous Soviet Union and the United States. Tiangong is China’s third house station following predecessors launched in 2011 and 2016.

The authorities introduced in 2020 that China’s first reusable spacecraft had landed following a check flight however no photographs or particulars have been launched.

China is excluded from the International Space Station resulting from US unease that its house programme is run by the ruling Communist Party’s navy wing, the People’s Liberation Army.