China has launched their first space laboratory module Thursday. This is an important step for China because they are also trying to make a space station. The name of this module is Tiangong. This means "heavenly palace" in Chinese. It launched off in Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Gansu Province. This is an experiment to test docking abilities. The laboratory weighs 8.4 tons. It can hold three astronauts. This module will have a partner on the way. Shenzhou 8 will join it and dock together. After 12 days, Shenzhou will float back into the Earth's atmosphere and Tiangong will wait for another spacecraft to dock with. China would like to build its own space station by 2020. This will have nothing to being part of the International Space Station (ISS)
I think it's a good thing China is doing this. It would be nice if we could partner up with China and do missions together. Two smart countries working together on finding facts about space sounds really good. I wish China the best of luck with this and maybe they will have their own space station up by the time they want it to.
source: http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/29/world/china-space-launch/index.html?hpt=wo_c2
China's future space station.
Comments
Well done!