Tiangong 1 Space capsule CNSA
Just as the thirty year era of the USA Space Shuttle program is about to come to an end, China has shipped its Tiangong 1 mini space station to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre, where it will be prepared for launch in the next three months.
This module weighing in at 9,500 kgs and being just 9 metres long is about half the size of the first space station ever to go into orbit, Salyut 1, sent by the Russians in 1971. Tiangong, which in Chinese means ‘heavenly palace’ is equipped with a docking port, navigation/communications instruments, as well as a pressurized cabin for future visitors.
According to the Chinese National Space Agency (CNSA), launch should take place by the end of September this year on a Long March 2F rocket, with plans to test the docking system a few weeks later using an unmanned Shenzhou 8 vehicle. All being well, two more manned Shenzhou flights to the mini space station should follow in 2012.
This module weighing in at 9,500 kgs and being just 9 metres long is about half the size of the first space station ever to go into orbit, Salyut 1, sent by the Russians in 1971. Tiangong, which in Chinese means ‘heavenly palace’ is equipped with a docking port, navigation/communications instruments, as well as a pressurized cabin for future visitors.
According to the Chinese National Space Agency (CNSA), launch should take place by the end of September this year on a Long March 2F rocket, with plans to test the docking system a few weeks later using an unmanned Shenzhou 8 vehicle. All being well, two more manned Shenzhou flights to the mini space station should follow in 2012.
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