“Tiangong” space station: Chinese astronauts reach the space module

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The Chinese astronauts took off from the Gobi desert in a “Long March 2F” rocket.

Photo: Greg Baker / AFP

The three astronauts on board the Chinese spaceship "Shenzhou 12" have arrived: According to the Chinese space program, they were able to dock successfully with the core module of the new space station.

The maneuver was automatic.

Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo started on Thursday morning from the Jiuquan spaceport in the Gobi desert.

The Chinese state television broadcast the start live.

After about six hours of flight, the space travelers have now arrived.

For the first time in five years, China has sent another manned mission into space.

The plan is for the crew to stay on the station for three months.

During their stay in space, the men are supposed to test important functions of the core module »Tianhe«.

You should also carry out scientific experiments.

The command is 56-year-old Nie Haisheng.

If everything works out, it would be the longest stay of Chinese astronauts in space to date.

In 2016, two Chinese had spent a month in space.

Two modules are still missing, then the space station is complete

The »Tianhe« core module, to which the space travelers have now docked, is the first part of the new space station.

China put it into orbit in late April.

"Tianhe" orbits the earth at a distance of 350 to 390 kilometers.

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The transport spaceship »Tianzhou 2« is currently connected to the other side of the space module.

The unmanned transporter had brought fuel, food and other materials for the station at the end of May.

Two further fixed modules - each weighing 20 tons - are still to be installed.

China's new space station will be called »Tiangong«, which translates as »Heavenly Palace«.

The work should be completed and the space station ready for operation by the end of 2022.

In contrast to the ISS, international use of the station is probably not planned.

However, the Chinese government had announced that it would be open to foreign cooperation in space exploration.

The moon and Mars are also interesting

In mid-May, China had already sent the »Zhurong« rover to Mars.

The People's Republic is the first nation to manage this maneuver on the first flight to our neighboring planet.

In the medium term, China is planning to send people to the moon as well.

An ambitious lunar mission ended in December: a capsule with two kilograms of samples returned safely to Earth.

China's leadership and space program have recently been criticized for handling their own space junk.

vki / dpa-AFX