China’s first taikonauts to visit the new Tiangong space station have gotten a chance to test out some of the core module’s new features, including living spaces and amenities. However, while this leg of the Chinese space program is just beginning, some engineers are looking much further ahead, to sending taikonauts to Mars.
On Wednesday, taikonauts Liu Boming, Tang Hongbo, and Nie Haisheng held a video chat with Chinese President Xi Jinping that was broadcast live on China Central Television.
“You are the first astronauts stationed in the core module Tianhe and will stay in space for three months,” Xi told the trio, according to Xinhua News Agency. “We all care about you very much.”
A constellation of three Tianlian tracking and relay satellites help the space station maintain a connection with ground control at 5G speeds of roughly 1.2 gigabits per second. Because of their array, Tinahe is connected to the ground 90% of the time.
“They can also have private phone calls with their families using a special telephone, which will not be heard by any of the ground control staff,” Yi said.
Other tasks they have engaged in include unloading supplies from the unmanned Tianzhou supply craft and preparing the station’s equipment for an eventual manned spacewalk. The station’s huge robotic arm was described by Global Times as “the most complex and most intelligent system in space,” and its 25-ton loading capacity is capable of moving the station’s space lab modules, greatly aiding the taikonauts in their tasks.
However, China’s space program isn’t just looking at low-Earth orbit: Wang Xiaojun, head of the state-owned China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), is already thinking about sending taikonauts to Mars.
All of this, he says, could be begun by 2043. However, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) is only looking at beginning a manned lunar base by 2036 – a project it revealed in April to be working with Russia’s Roscosmos on.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
0.00 (0%) 0 votes
