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(Image source: CMSE)
BY STEVEN SPARKMAN ANCHOR LOGAN TITTLE
Chinese officials announced they’re planning on launching a manned space flight to an orbiting
mini-space station sometime this month. Here’s Al Jazeera.
“A rocket carrying the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft has already been moved to a launch platform
in northwest China. China is hoping to establish a permanent space station by the year 2020.”
China made its first manned spaceflight in 2003 and docked an unmanned spacecraft to
a test module in November. The BBC explains, the goal of this mission is to perform their
first manned docking. (Video source: CMSE)
“The astronauts onboard the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft will ... dock with the Tiangong 1 - an experimental
module currently orbiting Earth - and carry out scientific experiments on board. … The
mission is part of China's programme to develop a full orbiting space station.”
But they aren’t stopping with an experimental module. They plan to have a 60-ton permanently-manned
space station — roughly comparable to Russia’s Mir. And a writer for Space.com says they
have even bigger goals.
“China is currently following a three-step space exploration program that ultimately
aims to land an astronaut on the moon. According to a white paper released by the Chinese government
in December, the country plans to launch a series of robotic moon landers and a lunar
sample-return mission by 2016.”
Scientists will continue to carry out tests on the spacecraft in preparation for the launch.
They’re also testing their pool of astronauts, which will be picked from a pool prior to
launch and could break one of the program’s glass ceilings. The Capitol Column explains.
“It remains unclear exactly who will lead and participate in the space mission. … Xinhua
said the astronauts would be named at the last minute and could include at least one
woman, which would represent a first for China’s space program.”
If successful, China will become the third nation to dock capsules in space, behind the
U.S. and Russia.