China’s manned mission has arrived at its new space station

A manned spacecraft docked with China’s new space station on Thursday at the start of a three-month mission., an important step for the ambitious space program of the Asian giant.

The capsule Shenzhou-12 connected to the space station module Tianhe, Heavenly Harmony in Chinese, about six hours after taking off from the Jiuquan Launch Center on the edge of the Gobi Desert.

The three astronauts, two veterans and one traveling in space for the first time, they will be the first to inhabit the main module of the orbital port, where they will conduct experiments, test equipment and prepare the station to receive two additional modules next year.

The mission brings to 14 the number of astronauts put into orbit by Beijing since its first manned mission in 2003. China is the third country to do it alone after the former Soviet Union and the United States. Of these, two were women and although the first crew of the orbital station is all male, the future is expected to welcome women as well.

The crew, already in their space suits, were fired by the commander of the Chinese manned space program, other uniformed staff and a crowd of children waving flowers and flags and singing patriotic songs. The ship, propelled by a rocket Long March-2F Y12, took off at 9:22 am with near perfect visibility.

The rocket separated from its propellants after about two minutes of flight., which was followed by the junction surrounding Shenzhou-12 at the top of the rocket. After about 10 minutes, the capsule separated from the top and extended its solar panels shortly after entering orbit.

Within six hours, approximately half a dozen adjustments to align the capsule for docking in the Tianhe, around 4:00 p.m.

Travel time has been reduced from the two days required to realize the previous space experimentation stations thanks to “a lot of advances and innovations”, Deputy Mission Design Director Gao Xu, State Television Video surveillance.

Among the improvements is the increase in automated and remotely controlled systems which should “significantly relieve the pressure on astronauts “, he claimed.

The mission is the third of the 11 planned for next year to add more sections to the station, send the crew and supplies. Three more astronauts and a capsule with supplies will arrive in three months.

China does not participate in the International Space Station, in large part because of US objections to the secrecy of Beijing’s space programs and its close ties to the military. However, China has strengthened cooperation with Russia and other countries, and your position could continue to function longer than the ISS, which is reaching the end of its useful life.

Last month, China landed a probe with a robot rover on Mars, Zhurong, and before brought the same team to the lesser-known side of the Moon, from where he brought the first lunar samples to Earth since the 1970s.

Later After Tianhe launched in April, the rocket that took her to space returned to Earth uncontrollably, sparking criticism that China has rejected. Typically, discarded rocket modules re-enter the atmosphere shortly after take-off to fall into the water and do not enter orbit.

The rocket used on Thursday is different and the returned parts are expected to burn long before they can create a hazard, he said. Ji Qiming, deputy director of the Chinese Human Space Flight Agency.

(With AP information)

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