China is making waves in all areas of human endeavor and with each passing year,
the Asian tiger appears to be growing in power. One area where China has witnessed significant
growth is the area of Space technology. Now, the country is laying the first piece for
its Tiangong Space Station into orbit. Hello and welcome to yet another exciting
video on space technology and exploration. In this video, we will let you know all about
China’s Tiangong Space Station. Without further ado, let’s dive right in.
China is fast catching up with other world powers in the space race as the Asian nation
recently commenced the development project of its Tiangong Space station. The name Tiangong means
“Heavenly Palace” in English and Chinese space scientists have great plans for the station.
This feat is quite remarkable when you consider how far the country has come
since its first manned crew flight to space in 2003. That was more than 40 years after
The Soviet's Yuri Gagarin first landed in space. Then, in 2020 China had its first mission to Mars,
which is half a century after the United States' Mariner 9 first flew past the
planet. Despite coming late to the party, China seems to be doing quite well in a short time.
For instance, the country has conducted missions to the Moon as well, launched heavy rockets,
and is already building a telescope that will become operational by 2024. When you add the
plans to build the Tiangong space station, you will understand just how ambitious the
Communist Workers Party of China really are. So what is the Tiangong Space Station ?
There are actually two space stations by this name. There’s the Tiangong 1 and Tiangong 2
which are basically space labs. The first was launched in 2011 and the second in 2016.
The planners designed both using a modular design similar to the International Space Station
used by Canada, Russia, Japan, the US, and the European Space Agency. When the Tiangong
project is completed, it will have both Tiangong 1 and 2 laboratories added to it
to bring the total weight to almost 70 tonnes. The capsule named Tianhe which translates to
Harmony of Heavens in English will be about the size of a school bus but it will contain control
and life support systems. This area of the station will also contain the living quarters where the
engineers and astronauts will reside. Designers reported that the capsule will weigh about 22.5
tonnes thereby making it the biggest craft ever constructed by Chinese engineers.
Tianhe will only be one-fifth of the size of the ISS and it will host three crews at
a time. the first crew is already aboard as at the time of making this video.
Launching Tianhe was a lot more difficult than engineers expected. The craft was launched from
Hainan Island on April 29th 2021 aboard a 5B Long March Rocket. Long March rockets are known
to have four boosters and one core stage. A single booster can be as long as a nine-storey building
with a 3 metre width and a weight of 850 tonnes when loaded with fuel. This rocket was chosen
because of its capacity to carry a deadweight of up to 25 tonnes worth of payload to low orbit.
Despite intensive planning, the rocket spun out of control and splashed debris into the Indian Ocean
a week later. Many analysts said that the mishap occurred because the rocket had no control system
and the mishap attracted criticism from the International space community. In the Chinese
defense, they said that the rocket was a short term launch vehicle for carrying out launches.
Despite the initial mishap, Tianhe eventually took off successfully and after more than an
hour in orbit, the solar panels became active and the operating module started working.
Planners expect that Tiangong will be fully ready by 2022.
Already nine nationals have expressed interest in conducting flight experiments aboard the station.
Tianhe being launched into orbit is the first stage of the process.
In the coming months, ten scheduled flights will be conducted over a period of 18 months and these
flights will be carrying equipment and supplies to Tiangong from earth. There are also plans to
launch experimental modules named Mengtian ‘’Dreaming of Heavens’’ and Wentian ‘’Quest
for Heavens’’ into space and Tiangong will play a crucial role if these launches are successful.
To the delight of many space enthusiasts, Tiangong is visible from earth if you know where to look.
In fact, it is visible to the naked eye. For those who are curious to know where Tiangong is located,
you can trace it via website, n2yo.com This website will show you its exact location
based on your current location. The website will also show you the predicted path it will take over
the next 10 days; however, site administrators warn that predictions are based on models that
are always evolving as the station constantly falls to orbit but repeatedly boosts itself.
Tiangong is scheduled to orbit Earth once every 91 minutes so you may not
see it during daytime. However, if you check the direction from whence it is coming from,
you may witness its bright lights moving fast and glittering in the dark.
Three Astronauts already floated into the Tiangong Station
Based on earlier plans, only recently, three Chinese astronauts floated into Tiangong,
thereby becoming the first group to board the station in orbit after a successful launch from
a military base in the Gobi desert. According to reports, the astronauts will remain in space for
three months with the sole purpose of conducting exploratory activities during the period.
The head of the mission, Commander Nie Haisheng was accompanied by Astronaut Liu Boming and Tang
Hongbo, the three traveled in a Shenzhou spaceship to an altitude of 236 miles above the earth’s
surface. A video that was later beamed to Earth after the crew entered Tiangong showed that they
took some few minutes to settle before they gave a military salute to officials watching from Earth.
Visuals were made possible via Chinese state broadcast networks,
‘’CCTV’’ to the entire Chinese population with the docking of the Shenzhou Long March rocket
broadcasted about 30 minutes later. But why is China interested in space?
For all the scientific and technological advancements the Tiangong Space Station
promises to deliver, a salient question must be asked; WHY IS CHINA SO INTERESTED IN SPACE!!
Perhaps, there are several reasons why. Firstly, the obvious reason will be that men have a lot
to gain if there are more space stations in orbit. More space stations mean more landing
space for space shuttles. This alone will increase access to astronauts and agencies
looking to study the solar system. The more we know about space, the better for us all. However,
there may be another reason why the successful establishment of Tiangong is so pivotal.
Only 3 decades ago, China was still classified as a third world country.
Fast forward to the modern day, it is now arguably the wealthiest nation on Earth. This mission
represents another move by the Chinese Communist government to announce itself on the world stage.
The same progress is seen in its economy and military sectors. With the establishment of
Tinagong, China is indirectly telling the rest of the West that it has space goals of its own.
And that it can pursue these goals all by itself without their help.
To better understand this viewpoint, take a look at the countries that use the International Space
Station; Russia, The US, Canada, UK and the European Space Agency all use the ISS.
Tiangong, on the other hand, is fully funded by the Chinese authorities.
Even though it will give access to other countries interested in using the station,
it maintains sole right over Tiangong. And political observers who understand
how politics work know the tremendous leverage this will give China in the space race.
Tiangong is here to stay and with further developments and missions planned for the future,
it is only a matter of time before it becomes a major hub for solar exploration. But until then,
we say a big congratulations to the Chinese people and all the scientists and engineers
involved in the project. So what do you think about this extraordinary jump towards space from
China ? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below, Don’t forget to subscribe and
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