The six astronaut and cosmonaut aboard the International Space Station are about to get some Modern orbital neighbors . Three Chinese astronauts have savage off aboard a Chinese Long March Eruca sativa .
They wo n’t be coming aboard the international outstation , a $ 100 billion complex that files about 250 miles above Earth , however . China is not a member of the 15 - land partnership .
or else , Nie Haishengm , commander of the Shenzhou-10 mission , and his two rookie crewmates will head to a Chinese - have module called Tiangong-1 , which is serving as testbed for a future operational post .
The Chinese cosmonaut , or “ taikonauts , ” are due to spend 15 days in cranial orbit , primarily to rehearse rendezvous and dock technique , mental test technologies needed for long - term human domicile in space and conduct scientific discipline experiment , Wu Ping , spokeswoman for China ’s human place programme sound out through a translator at a webcast press conference on Monday .
The commission will be the land ’s fifth with citizenry aboard . Another three - member crew visited the 8.5 - gross ton Tiangong-1 faculty last June . The prototype station , whose name means “ Heavenly Palace , ” has been orbit since September 2011 .
The capsule is expect to rendezvous and dock with Tiangong-1 double , once manually and once automated . The applied science is require to cook for on - eye socket construction of China ’s conform to - on station .
“ Up to now , we have only conducted three automated rendezvous and moorage and one piloted rendezvous and moorage . We call for more flight tests for verification , ” Wu Ping tell apart reporters .
Tiangong-1 was designed to last for two years and part of the approaching delegacy will be to train its condition for a possible file name extension , Gregory Kulacki , China program manager at the Union of Concerned Scientists , told Discovery News .
“ The one matter that ’s go to be unlike for this foreign mission is that in prep for their space post design , which requires lugging of larger modules , they are going to do what they call a maneuver around the Tiangong-1 , similar to what they are croak to need to be capable to do when they start building the place place , ” Kulacki say .
NASA is ban by Congress from any contact , collaborations or partnership with China , mainly due to concerns about technology transfer . Republican congressman Frank Wolf has been leading that rush .
“ I realise Congressman Wolf ’s concerns , but I recollect his approach is rejoinder - productive , ” Kulacki pronounce .
“ cast out contact between NASA and potential opposite number in China only founder great authority to the more nationalistic elements within the Formosan blank space community , and it minimizes the voices of a very large internationalist constituency within the Taiwanese space residential area , ” he say .
“ The ban really strengthens attitudes that are not conducive to good relation back between the United States and China and it weakens the position of those who take a more positive attitude toward the United States , ” Kulacki added .
The military mission launched early Tuesday from China ’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center .
In gain to Nie Haisheng , 48 , who is take a crap his second space travel , the gang include Zhang Xiaoguang , 47 , a former Air Force pilot film , and Wang Yaping , 33 , who has become the 2d cleaning woman from China to fly in blank .
ChinaNASAScienceSpace
Daily Newsletter
Get the best tech , skill , and culture news show in your inbox day by day .
News from the time to come , deliver to your present .
You May Also Like
