China planning to build a space station
Monday, June 25th, 2012 4:32:46 by Ahmad Mehdi
China planning to build a space station
China’s goal of building a space station by 2020 has drawn closer, after the crew of the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft docked with the Tiangong-1 space lab.
With the presence of China’s first female astronaut, Liu Yang, 33, on the Shenzhou-9 mission already a huge source of national pride, China’s ambitious space program took another leap forward Sunday, when the three-member crew of Shenzhou-9 performed China’s
first manual space docking. After decoupling from Tiangong-1 and moving 400 metres away, the astronaut Liu Wang delicately manoeuvred Shenzhou-9 back toward the module and docked with it.
Mastering the technique of joining spacecraft together manually is a vital step toward an operating space station. Until now, the space dockings were by remote control, the procedure used to join Shenzhou-9 to Tiangong-1 after its June 16 launch.
The success of the Shenzhou-9 mission could not have come at a better time for the ruling Communist Party, which is seeking to bolster its status by encouraging nationalist fervour. The Party faces a once-in-a-decade leadership change later this year, and
is still dealing with the fall of disgraced politician Bo Xilai.
Tags: 2020, China, micro level, shenzhou, Space station, tiangong
Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=26986
Posted by Ahmad Mehdi
on Jun 25 2012. Filed under World.
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