Shenzhou-11 successfully docks with Tiangong-2 space lab
Joye
2016-10-27 09:26:33
China’s Shenzhou-11 successfully docked with the Tiangong-2 space lab at 3:31 a.m. BJT on
Wednesday, some 393 kilometers above the Earth’s surface.
Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong, the two astronauts carried into space two days ago on board
Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong, the two astronauts carried into space two days ago on board
Shenzhou-11, have now entered Tiangong-2 and will conduct experiments for 30 days as part
of China’s longest-ever crewed space mission.
The docking wasn’t completed in a single action, but required a lengthy and carefully
The spacecraft blasted off on Monday morning from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in
northwest China. The Tiangong-2 space lab, China’s most advanced to date, was
launched on September 15.It has
been operating 393 kilometers above the Earth’s surface – the height at which
a future permanent Chinese space station would function – since September 25.
The docking wasn’t completed in a single action, but required a lengthy and carefully coordinated buildup. The two modules, each of which weighs over eight tons, were moving
at a speed of around 7.9 kilometers per second before the docking process began.
Shenzhou-11 and Tiangong-2 transferred their orbits five times during the process and
berthed four times when their distance
apart was five kilometers, 400 meters, 120 meters and 30 meters, in order to make necessary
adjustments. Following the docking, Jing and Chen entered the Tiangong-2 space lab. The two astronauts are scheduled to work eight hours a day for six days
a week, conducting experiments and testing systems. They will also be able to take some
downtime to ride the onboard exercise bike and contact their families on Earth via video
or email. The astronauts will return to Shenzhou-11 after spending 30 days in
Tiangong-2. The spacecraft will then disengage from the space lab and return to Earth
in a journey expected to take less than one day. They will remain in space for 33 days
in total, breaking a national record for the longest stay in space.
During the month-long
During the month-long journey, Shenzhou-11will transport personnel and material between the Earth and the
Tiangong-2 space lab. Tiangong-2 will remain in orbit after the departure of
Shenzhou-11, awaiting the arrival of the Tianzhou-1 space cargo ship next year. The space
lab, along with its predecessor Tiangong-1, is seen as a prototype for China’
sconstruction of a permanent space station, which is slated to be in full operation by
around 2022. China conducted its first crewed space
mission in 2003, becoming only the third country after the US and Russia to do so, and
has since staged a spacewalk and landed its Yutu rover on the moon.