China sent three new astronauts to its space station on Tuesday, where in a few days they will carry out the first crew in orbit in the history of their country, according to official media.
The mission spacecraft, Shenzhou-15, was propelled by a Long March 2F rocket, which lifted off at 11:08 p.m. local time from the Jiuquan Space Center in the northwestern Gobi desert, the New China Press agency reported, citing to the space agency. in charge of manned flights (CMSA).
It then successfully docked with the space station called Tiangong (“Heavenly Palace”) in Chinese, also known by its acronym CSS (for “Chinese Space Station” in English), according to New China.
six months in space
The astronauts, three men, will spend six months in space. Initially they will live with their three companions (including a woman) from the previous Shenzhou-14 mission, who have been on the space station for almost half a year and will return to Earth in a few days.
For the first time in history, two Chinese crews will thus pass the baton in orbit.
The space station already has its final T-shaped structure, with three modules. But there are still several configurations and adjustments to be made during this Shenzhou-15 mission that will be “the last dedicated to construction,” the CMSA explained.
Lunar target in 2030
The mission commander is Fei Junlong, ex Shenzhou-6 (2005). He joins Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu, for whom this is the first spaceflight.
The Shenzhou-15 crew will also conduct three to four spacewalks to continue assembling equipment outside the station, CMSA said.
China sent its first astronaut into space in 2003. In early 2019, a machine landed on the far side of the Moon, a world first.
In 2021, China brought a small robot to the surface of Mars and plans to send men to the Moon by 2030.
Source: BFM TV
