China launches fresh three-man crew to Tiangong space station

Three Chinese astronauts rocketed into orbit Tuesday and set off after China’s Tiangong area station to interchange three fellow fliers in a direct handover marking the nation’s drive to ascertain a everlasting presence in low-Earth orbit.

With commander Fei Junlong on the controls, flanked by Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu, the Shenzhou 15 spacecraft roared away from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China at 10:08 a.m. EST.

Climbing immediately into the airplane of the area station’s orbit, the 191-foot-tall Long March 2F rocket, outfitted with 4 strap-on boosters for added energy, launched the Shenzhou 15 ferry ship into the deliberate preliminary orbit about 10 minutes after liftoff.

The capsule’s two photo voltaic arrays then deployed, clearing the way in which for a sequence of rendezvous rocket firings to meet up with the Tiangong outpost — known as the “Palace in the Sky” — for docking.

Fei is an area veteran who commanded the Shenzhou 6 mission in 2005 whereas Deng and Zhang are making their first flights. The trio will change Shenzhou 14 commander Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe, who arrived on the Tiangong station final June, within the first direct handover from one crew to a different.

The Shenzhou 14 crew is the third set of taikonauts, or Chinese astronauts, to reside and work aboard the rising area station and the primary to ascertain what China hopes shall be a everlasting residence in low-Earth orbit. The International Space Station has been completely staffed by rotating U.S., Russian, European, Canadian and Japanese astronauts since 2000.

The Chinese area station is now outfitted with three giant modules linked in a T-shaped configuration. The Tianhe core module, launched in April 2021, is the centerpiece of the complicated, offering crew quarters, life assist techniques, communications, spacecraft controls, an airlock and a number of docking ports.

The Wentian laboratory module was launched final July, adopted by the Mengtian module in late October, each linked at proper angles to the central Tianhe module. Two giant photo voltaic array wings prolonged from the Wentian and Mengtian modules whereas two extra lengthen at proper angles from the central Tianhe module.

The station has a mass of about 100 tons. While smaller than the 450-ton International Space Station, Tiangong is newer and outfitted with state-of-the-art tools, computer systems and instrumentation.

“I am very proud and excited to be able to go to space again for my country,” Fei mentioned earlier than launch. “Especially when we are about to enter our own Chinese space station. I am deeply proud and proud of our great motherland.”

He mentioned the Shenzhou 15 mission “is not only the last of the construction period of China’s space station, but also the beginning of the next new stage. During the half-year flight, we will conduct more on-orbit tests, and the operation, maintenance and repair of equipment,” he mentioned.

Chinese officers say three to 4 spacewalks are deliberate in the course of the Shenzhou 15 mission.

William Harwood

Bill Harwood has been protecting the U.S. area program full-time since 1984, first as Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International and now as a guide for CBS News. He coated 129 area shuttle missions, each interplanetary flight since Voyager 2’s flyby of Neptune and scores of business and navy launches. Based on the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Harwood is a faithful newbie astronomer and co-author of “Comm Check: The Final Flight of Shuttle Columbia.”