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April 18th, 2022
Credit: CMS/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s space station development is heading for the next stage of assembly, and upon completion later this year, more space missions are expected to be carried out in the future.
China announced on Sunday it will send its next spaceflight crew to the Tiangong space station in June following the successful return of the three astronauts of the Shenzhou-13 mission on Saturday.
Complete construction
The China National Space Administration plans to complete the construction of the China Space Station in 2022 by adding the Wentian Experiment Capsule-1 and the Mengtian Experiment Capsule-2 to the Tianhe Core Module. Two Tianzhou cargo spacecraft will provide supplies for the astronauts of the Shenzhou-14 and Shenzhou-15 crew spacecraft.
The Wentian lab module will be launched in July and Mengtian in October, Hao Chun, director of the China Manned Space Agency, said at the press conference.
Credit: China National Space Administration (CNSA)/China Media Group(CMG)/China Central Television (CCTV)/Inside Outer Space screengrab
The Shenzhou-14 crew will witness the arrival of two lab modules during their stay in orbit.
The Shenzhou-15 crew will fly to the space station before the end of this year and join the Shenzhou-14 crew in space. At that time, the space station will consist of three modules, two manned spacecraft and one cargo spacecraft, with a total mass of nearly 100 tons.
Training and preparation
The two crews of the Shenzhou-14 and Shenzhou-15 have been selected and they are actively carrying out relevant training and preparation.
“The two crews of the Shenzhou-14 and Shenzhou-15 will stay in orbit for six months respectively, and they will carry out in-orbit rotation for the first time. The six astronauts will stay together in orbit for 5 to 10 days,” said Huang Weifen, chief designer of the astronaut system under China’s manned space program.
Credit: China National Space Administration (CNSA)/China Media Group(CMG)/China Central Television (CCTV)/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Mechanical arm
“Once the space station is completed, astronauts will carry out experiments in space science, space materials, space medicine and space exploration in the two experimental modules. The experimental modules, together with the core module, can also support the life of six astronauts when the two manned spacecrafts dock with the space station,” said Yang Hong, chief designer of the space station under China’s manned space program.
In addition, a small mechanical arm can be used alone or in combination with the large mechanical arm of the core module to jointly complete tasks such as space extravehicular activities, and maintenance and inspection of extravehicular experimental equipment,” said Yang.
Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)/China National Space Administration (CNSA)/United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)/China Manned Space Agency (CMSA)/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China also plans to launch the country’s first space telescope named Xuntian next year to conduct wide-field sky surveys.
Xuntian, or Surveying the Sky, will fly alongside the Tiangong station.
“The telescope will conduct frontier scientific research in the universe’s formation and evolution, dark matter and dark energy, exoplanets and solar system objects, and is expected to secure a batch of major innovative breakthroughs,” said Hao.
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