Human spaceflight garners international prestige, while also providing opportunities for cutting-edge research. Satellites facilitate military and civilian communications. The advantages of developing space capabilities are manifold. The Tiangong-2 featured a greater capacity for scientific experimentation and was therefore described by Wu Ping as a laboratory “ in the true sense of the word.” According to China’s 2016 white paper on space activities, the Tiangong-2 offered a platform for China to master key capabilities, such as cargo transport and replenishment, necessary for operating a permanent space station. China lost communication with the space module in March 2016, and on Apthe Tiangong-1 plunged through Earth’s atmosphere, scattering debris over the South Pacific.Ĭhinese engineers applied lessons from the Tiangong-1 to improve the design of its successor, the Tiangong-2, which launched in September 2016. The 8.5 metric ton Tiangong-1 launched in September 2011 and enabled Chinese astronauts – or “taikonauts” – to practice rendezvous and docking maneuvers and carry out short-term missions in space. 2)Ī critical aspect of Project 921 was the development of the Tiangong (“Heavenly Palace”) space laboratories that served as critical testbeds for gaining the technical know-how for operating the CSS. Chief objectives of the multi-phase Project 921 include achieving human spaceflight and developing and operating what Wu Ping, then-Deputy Director of China’s Manned Space Agency (CMSA), called a “permanent” manned Chinese space station. 1)Ĭhina formally launched its manned space program, known as Project 921, in September 1992. In 2017, the Chinese launched the Tianzhou-1 ("Heavenly Vessel") cargo spaceship, which is based on the Tiangong 1 and 2 space laboratories. The planned launch date of the core module, the Tianhe (“Harmony of the Heavens”), is 2021. Operations will be controlled from the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center in China. The Chinese station is expected to have a mass between 80 and 100 tons. The planned Chinese Space Station will be roughly one-fifth the mass of the ISS (International Space Station) and about the size of the decommissioned Russian Mir space station. The Chinese large modular space station is a planned space station to be placed into LEO (Low Earth Orbit) between 340 and 450 km above the surface. CSS (Chinese Space Station) Tiangong Launch Mission Status Supply Missions References
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