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Tiangong is a space station that the Chinese Managed Space Agency (CMSA) is building in low earth orbit. In May 2021, China launched Tianhe, the first of the three space station modules into orbit, and the country aims to complete construction of the station by the end of 2022. CMSA hopes that Tiangong will be permanently inhabited by three astronauts for at least a decade. The space station will host many experiments from China and other countries.
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Tiangong, which means “Heavenly Palace”, will be composed of Tianhe, the main habitat for astronauts, and two modules dedicated to hosting experiments, Mengtian and Wentian, scheduled for launch in 2022. The Shenzhou spacecraft, launched from Jiuquan in the Gobi Desert, will send crews of three astronauts to the space station, while the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft will be launched from Wenchang on the Chinese island of Hainan to deliver supplies and fuel to the station.
Specifications of Tiangong Space Station
Tiangong will be much smaller than the International space station (ISS), with only three modules against 16 modules on the ISS. Tiangong will also be lighter than the ISS, which weighs around 400 tons (450 metric tons) following the recent addition of Russia. Science module.
The 54-foot-long (16.6-meter) Tianhe module was launched with a docking hub that allows it to accommodate the Shenzhou and Tianzhou spacecraft, as well as accommodate the two subsequent experimentation modules. A large robotic arm will help position the Mengtian and Wentian modules and assist the astronauts during spacewalks.
Tianhe is much larger than the Tiangong 1 and 2 Space Test Laboratories launched by China in the past decade and almost three times as heavy, at 24 tons (22 metric tons). The new Tiangong, visiting spacecraft and cargo spacecraft will expand the usable space for astronauts; so much so that they will have the impression “that they will live in a villa”, compared to the little space available in the previous Chinese space laboratories, Bai Linhou, deputy chief designer of the space station, says CCTV.
Tianhe offers regenerative vital assistance, including a means of recycle urine, to allow astronauts to stay in orbit for long periods of time. It is the primary habitat for astronauts and also houses the propulsion systems to keep the space station in orbit.
China said it would take 11 launches to complete Tiangong: three module launches, four manned missions and four spacecraft from Tianzhou to deliver cargo and fuel. The first three launches – Tianhe, Tianzhou 2 and Shenzhou 12 – went well.
When completed, Tiangong will be joined by a huge, Hubble-like space telescope, which will share the orbit of the space station and can dock for repairs, maintenance and possibly upgrades. Named Xuntian, which translates to “watch the skies,” the telescope will have a mirror 6.6 feet (2 m) in diameter like Hubble but will have a field of view 300 times larger. Xuntian will aim to survey 40% of the sky over 10 years using its massive 2.5 billion pixel camera.
The space station could potentially be expanded to six modules, if all goes according to plan. “We may further expand our current combination of three-module space stations into a four-module cross-shaped combination in the future,” Bai said. says CCTV. Tianhe’s second central module could then allow two other modules to join the orbital outpost.
The history of the Tiangong project
China has embarked on a long journey to reach the point of building its space station. The project was first approved in 1992, after which the country began developing the Shenzhou spacecraft and the Long March 2F rocket to send astronauts into space. Yang Liwei became the first Chinese astronaut to space in October 2003 and made China the third country in the world to independently send humans into orbit.
China has expressed interest in joining the International Space Station partners, but the possibility was removed by a 2011 executive order passed by US lawmakers effectively prohibiting NASA from coordinating directly with China or any Chinese company. This means that direct collaboration between NASA and Chinese space stations is strictly prohibited, making it impossible to send American astronauts to Tiangong (or Chinese astronauts to the ISS).
To be able to build and operate a manned space station, China first had to test crucial space station systems, including life support systems and technologies for rendezvous and docking of spacecraft. in orbit while traveling at 17,448 mph (28,080 km / h). To do this, China launched the 9 tons (8.2 metric tons) Tiangong-1 space laboratory in 2011, and then sent the unmanned Shenzhou 8 and the crewed Shenzhou 9 and 10 to join Tiangong-1 in orbit.
The upgraded but similar in size Tiangong-2 launched in 2016 and hosted the two Shenzhou 11 astronaut crew for just over a month, setting a new national manned flight mission time record.
As the Chinese Manned Space Agency verified these initial milestones, the agency also focused on developing new, larger Long March heavy-lift rockets to make a space station possible. The Long March 5B was specially designed to launch the huge modules of the space station into low earth orbit. The same rocket was the source of one of larger uncontrolled re-entries over the past decades after Tianhe launched in late April 2021.
In 2014, China completed its new coastal spaceport at Wenchang, specifically to launch these larger-diameter rockets, which are to be delivered by sea.
The future of Tiangong
The first crewed missions – Shenzhou 12, 13 and 14 – will be for the construction of the space station. A series of operational phase missions lasting six months each will begin in 2023. Crews will perform experiments in areas such as astronomy, space medicine and life sciences, biotechnology, microgravity combustion and fluid physics and space technologies. Tiangong will also temporarily accommodate six astronauts during crew changes, Space.com has already reported.
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Tiangong is also likely to host international astronauts in the future. European Space Agency astronauts Samantha Cristoforetti and Matthias Maurer trained with their Chinese counterparts in 2017 in a small step towards a possible future visit to the Chinese space station, the The European Space Agency reported. Astronauts from other countries, especially those involved in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, can also travel to Tiangong; Russia is also considering send his cosmonauts.
China is looking to develop alternatives to maintain supply to Tiangong, SpaceNews reported. In January 2021, the Chinese Manned Space Agency launched a call for proposals for reliable and inexpensive cargo missions to Tiangong. The call was open to commercial companies, echoing NASA’s commercial replenishment service contracts that provided opportunities for SpaceX.
It will be possible to spot Tiangong from Earth, as is sometimes the case with the ISS. Tiangong will orbit at an altitude between 211 and 280 miles (340 to 450 kilometers) above Earth and between 43 degrees north and south, and the space station is expected to be a fixed feature in the sky for at least a decade.
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