China’s ‘space dream’: A Long March to the Moon and beyond

China successfully launched the newest mission to its Tiangong space station on Tuesday, with a crew that features its first civilian astronaut.

It marked the newest space milestone for China, because it appears to be like to meet up with america and Russia.

Here’s a take a look at the Chinese language space program, and the place it’s headed:

Mao’s vow

Quickly after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957, Chinese language chief Mao Zedong pronounced: “We too will make satellites.”

It took greater than a decade, however in 1970, China launched its first satellite on a Lengthy March rocket.

Human spaceflight took many years longer, with Yang Liwei changing into the primary Chinese language “taikonaut” in 2003.

Because the launch approached, considerations over the viability of the mission triggered Beijing to cancel a stay tv broadcast on the final minute.

Nevertheless it went easily, with Yang orbiting the Earth 14 occasions throughout a 21-hour flight.

Area station and ‘Jade Rabbit’

Following within the footsteps of america and Russia, China began planning for a space station of its personal in Earth orbit.

The Tiangong-1 lab was launched in 2011.

In 2013, the second Chinese language girl in space, Wang Yaping, gave a video class from that craft to youngsters throughout the nation.

Tiangong-1 was additionally used for medical experiments and, most significantly, assessments supposed to arrange for the development of a space station.

That was adopted by the “Jade Rabbit” lunar rover in 2013, which initially gave the impression to be a dud when it turned dormant and stopped sending alerts again to Earth.

It made a dramatic restoration, nevertheless, in the end surveying the Moon’s floor for 31 months—nicely past its anticipated lifespan.

In 2016, China launched its second orbital lab, the Tiangong-2. Astronauts who visited the station have run experiments on rising rice and different crops in space.

‘Area dream’

Below President Xi Jinping, plans for China’s “space dream” have been put into overdrive.

It’s seeking to lastly meet up with america and Russia after years of belatedly matching their milestones.

Moreover a space station, China is planning to construct a base on the Moon, reiterating this week its aim to land people on the Moon by 2030.

The lunar plans have been dealt a setback in 2017 when the highly effective Lengthy March-5 Y2 rocket did not launch on a mission to place communication satellites into orbit.

That compelled the postponement of the Chang’e-5 launch, initially scheduled to gather Moon samples within the second half of 2017.

One other robotic, the Chang’e-4, landed on the far facet of the Moon in January 2019—a historic first.

Chang’e-5 finally landed on the Moon in 2020, elevating a Chinese language flag on the lunar floor and returning to Earth the primary lunar samples in 4 many years.

And in 2021, its Tianwen-1 mission efficiently landed a rover on the floor of Mars.

Palace within the sky

The ultimate module of space station Tiangong—which suggests “heavenly palace”—efficiently docked with the core construction final yr.

It carries a number of items of cutting-edge science tools, state information company Xinhua reported, together with “the world’s first space-based chilly atomic clock system”.

Tiangong is predicted to stay in low Earth orbit at an altitude between 400 and 450 kilometers (250 and 280 miles) for at the least 10 years—realizing China’s ambition to take care of a long-term human presence in space.

It is going to be continually crewed by rotating groups of three astronauts, who will conduct scientific experiments and assist check new applied sciences.

After Tuesday’s launch, the following mission to Tiangong, the Shenzhou-17, is predicted in October.

© 2023 AFP