Space travel Crew of new mission arrives at Chinese space station
The three-man crew of the Chinese space mission Shenzhou-19 arrived at the Tiangong space station after its launch on Wednesday. The three taikonauts were welcomed at the space station by the crew of the previous Shenzhou-18 mission.
30.10.2024, 00:27
30.10.2024, 10:52
SDA
This was reported by the state news agency Xinhua. The new Tiangong team is to conduct experiments with the aim of bringing taikonauts to the moon by 2030 and eventually establishing a lunar base.
Shenzhou-19 was launched from the Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China early on Wednesday morning, according to Xinhua and state broadcaster CCTV. According to Xinhua, the Chinese Manned Space Administration (CMSA) described the launch as a "complete success". The spacecraft detached from the carrier rocket around ten minutes after the launch and entered its intended orbit.
Third woman in space
Xinhua later reported that the spacecraft had docked at the front opening of the space station's most important module, Tianhe, in the morning.
Also on board is Wang Haoze, China's only female aerospace engineer and the third woman in space. According to CMSA, the team, which also includes space travelers Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong, will return to Earth at the end of April or beginning of May.
Like everyone else, she dreams of visiting the space station, Wang told journalists on Tuesday. "I want to complete every task carefully and protect our home in space," she continued. She also wants to "wave at the stars".
Cai Xuzhe is a 48-year-old former air force pilot. He also brings experience from a previous deployment on board Tiangong as part of the Shenzhou-14 mission in 2022. He feels honored by the new mission and feels "great responsibility", said Cai.
According to CMSA, the previous Tiangong crew will return to Earth on November 4 after the handover with the new team has been completed. The new and old crews will spend about five days together in the space station to complete the planned tasks and hand over the work, the CMSA said, according to Xinhua. The Tiangong space station is manned by teams of three astronauts who rotate every six months.
Ambitious space program
The Tiangong space station is the centerpiece of China's ambitious space program. China also wants to become a major power in space travel and is investing huge sums in its space program under head of state Xi Jinping. The People's Republic wants to send a manned mission to the moon by 2030 and later build a lunar station.
The crew of Shenzhou-19 will carry out various experiments during their time on board Tiangong, including some with lunar soil-like "bricks", CCTV reported. The parts are to be brought to Tiangong in November by the unmanned cargo spaceship Tianzhou-8.
The astronauts want to test how the materials behave under extreme radiation, gravity, temperature and other conditions. Chinese scientists hoped to be able to use lunar soil for the construction of the future moon base in order to significantly reduce costs, CCTV reported.
Shenzhou-19 is primarily about "gaining additional experience", said US astronomer Jonathan McDowell from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center to the AFP news agency. Even if the six-month stay of the taikonauts on board Tiangong does not achieve any major breakthroughs, it will still be "very valuable".
