China's space station gets new crew as Beijing advances Xi's "space dream"

Three Chinese astronauts including nan country's only female spaceflight technologist entered nan Tiangong abstraction position Wednesday greeting pursuing an early greeting motorboat into orbit.

The Shenzhou-19 ngo took disconnected pinch its trio of abstraction explorers from nan Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center successful northwest China, authorities news agency Xinhua and authorities broadcaster CCTV reported.

Among nan unit is Wang Haoze, 34, nan spaceflight engineer, according to nan China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). She is nan 3rd Chinese female to return portion successful a crewed mission.

A agelong March-2F bearer rocket carrying nan Shenzhou-19 spacecraft and unit of 3 astronauts lifts disconnected from nan Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, successful nan Gobi desert, northwest China, connected Oct. 30, 2024. ADEK BERRY / AFP via Getty Images

The unit met pinch nan astronauts from nan erstwhile Shenzhou-18 mission, "starting a caller information of in-orbit unit handover," Xinhua said.

The caller Tiangong squad will transportation retired experiments pinch an oculus toward nan abstraction program's extremity of placing astronauts connected nan Moon by 2030 and yet constructing a lunar base.

The abstraction agency deemed nan motorboat a "complete success," Xinhua said, noting that nan spaceship separated from nan rocket it was connected and entered its designated orbit astir 10 minutes aft taking off.

Xinhua later said nan spaceship had "made a fast, automated rendezvous and docking pinch nan beforehand larboard of nan abstraction station's halfway module Tianhe."

The squad will return to Earth successful precocious April aliases early May adjacent year, CMSA Deputy Director Lin Xiqiang said astatine a property arena up of nan launch. The existent unit is scheduled to return to Earth connected November 4. They've been connected nan abstraction position for six months.

China's eager abstraction goals

China has ramped up plans to execute its "space dream" nether President Xi Jinping.

It constructed a abstraction position aft being kept retired of nan International Space Station, mostly owed to U.S. concerns complete nan Chinese Communist Party's subject arm's wide power complete nan abstraction program, The Associated Press points out, adding that Beijing's satellite programme is portion of a increasing rivalry pinch nan U.S. and others, Japan and India among them.

China was nan 3rd federation to put humans successful orbit and has landed robotic rovers connected Mars and nan moon.

Crewed by teams of 3 astronauts that are rotated each six months, nan Tiangong abstraction position is nan program's crown jewel.

Beijing says it's connected way to nonstop a crewed ngo to nan Moon by 2030, wherever it intends to conception a guidelines connected nan lunar surface.

Only nan U.S. has landed a crewed spacecraft connected nan satellite truthful far.  

One research nan Shenzhou-19 crew's clip aboard Tiangong is scheduled to transportation retired involves "bricks" made from components imitating lunar soil, CCTV reported.

These items -- to beryllium delivered to Tiangong by nan Tianzhou-8 cargo vessel successful November -- will beryllium tested to spot really they fare successful utmost radiation, gravity, somesthesia and different conditions.

Due to nan precocious costs of transporting materials into space, Chinese scientists dream to beryllium capable to usage lunar ungraded for nan building of nan early base, CCTV reported.

The Shenzhou-19 ngo is chiefly astir "accumulating further experience," Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer astatine nan Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told Agence France-Presse.

While this peculiar crew's six-month stint aboard Tiangong whitethorn not witnesser awesome breakthroughs aliases feats, it is still "very valuable to do," said McDowell.

China has successful caller decades injected billions of dollars into processing an precocious abstraction programme connected par pinch those of nan United States and Europe.

In 2019, China landed a probe connected nan acold broadside of nan moon, making it nan first spacecraft ever to do so. In 2021, it landed a mini robot connected Mars.

Tiangong, whose halfway module launched successful 2021, is planned to beryllium successful usage for astir 10 years.

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