Tiangong space station
The Tiangong space station is a space station in Low Earth orbit.[1] The space station belongs to China's space program. As of 2024, the space station has astronauts.
Station statistics |
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Distance from Earth: "Tiangong orbits Earth at an altitude of around" ... "340 to 450 kilometers", according to media (2023).[2]
It is the third station by China, after Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2.
Tiangong means sky palace.
Structure
changeThe main parts of the station are shown in the diagram below.
Solar array | Solar array | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Solar array | Solar array | Docking port | Solar array | Solar array | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wentian laboratory | Tianhe service module | Mengtian laboratory | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Solar array | EVA hatch | Docking port | Docking port | Solar array | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Use
changeChina plans to do a number of experiments on the station.[4] Other nations will also use the space station. These include Italy which has made a long-term agreement with China to work together on spaceflight.[5][6] The University of Oslo in Norway is going to use the station for cancer research.[7]
Missions
change- Key
Past
changeAs late as 2024, there have been spaceflights to and from the space station.
Launch date | Spacecraft | Launch vehicle | Launch pad | Launched by | Where it docked at the station |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
28 April 2021[8] | Tianhe | Long March 5B | Wenchang LC-1[9] | CASC | N/A |
Scheduled
changeAll dates are UTC and may change.
Launch date (NET) | Spacecraft | Launch vehicle | Launch pad | Launching by | Where it will dock at the station |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
20 May 2021[10] | Tianzhou 2 | Long March 7 | Wenchang LC-2 | CASC | Tianhe aft |
10 June 2021[11] | Shenzhou 12 | Long March 2F | Jiuquan SLS-1 | CASC | Tianhe forward |
September 2021[12] | Tianzhou 3 | Long March 7 | Wenchang LC-2 | CASC | Tianhe aft |
October 2021[13] | Shenzhou 13 | Long March 2F | Jiuquan SLS-1 | CASC | Tianhe forward |
March–April 2022[14] | Tianzhou 4 | Long March 7 | Wenchang LC-2 | CASC | Tianhe aft |
May 2022[15] | Shenzhou 14 | Long March 2F | Jiuquan SLS-1 | CASC | Tianhe forward |
May–June 2022[16] | Wentian | Long March 5B | Wenchang LC-1 | CASC | Tianhe |
August–September 2022[17] | Mengtian | Long March 5B | Wenchang LC-1 | CASC | Tianhe |
October 2022[18] | Tianzhou 5 | Long March 7 | Wenchang LC-2 | CASC | Tianhe aft |
November 2022[19] | Shenzhou 15 | Long March 2F | Jiuquan SLS-1 | CASC | Tianhe |
Other information
changeIt will be made up of several modules (parts) that need to be put together in space. The first module is called Tianhe.[20] It was launched on 28 April 2021.[8] It will take about 11 total launches to build the station.[7]
References
change- ↑ Clark, Steephen. "China to begin construction of space station this year". spaceflightnow.com. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
- ↑ https://www.space.com/how-to-see-track-chinese-space-station-tiangong#:~:text=Tiangong%20orbits%20Earth%20at%20an,(27%2C600%20km%2Fh). Retrieved 2024-06-04
- ↑ Barbosa, Rui (1 March 2021). "China preparing to build Tiangong station in 2021, complete by 2022". NASASpaceflight. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
- ↑ "China Manned Space Programme: Its Achievements and Future Developments (PDF by China Manned Space Agency)" (PDF). United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
- ↑ "China and Italy to cooperate on long-term human spaceflight". 2017-02-22. Archived from the original on 2018-02-16. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
- ↑ "Agreement Italy-China". 2017-02-22. Archived from the original on 2018-12-02. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Xin, Ling. "China Is Set to Launch First Module of Massive Space Station". Scientific American. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Graham, William; Gebhardt, Chris (28 April 2021). "China launches Tianhe module, start of ambitious two-year station construction effort". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
- ↑ Hunt, Katie (29 April 2021). "ISS gets a rival with China's planned space station". CNN. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
- ↑ Barbosa, Rui C. (1 March 2021). "China preparing to build Tiangong station in 2021, complete by 2022". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- ↑ "长征二号F/G Y12 • 神舟十二号载人飞船 • LongMarch 2F/G Y12 • Shenzhou-12". spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ↑ "【2021年9月待定】长征七号 • 天舟三号货运飞船 • LongMarch 7 Y4 • Tianzhou-3". spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 26 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ↑ "长征二号F/G Y13 • 神舟十三号载人飞船 • LongMarch 2F/G Y13 • Shenzhou-13". spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ↑ "【2022年3月04日待定】长征七号 • 天舟四号货运飞船 • LongMarch 7 Y5 • Tianzhou-4". spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ↑ "长征二号F • 神舟十四号载人飞船(2022年待定)" [Long March 2F • Shenzhou-14 (2022 TBD)]. spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ↑ "【22年待定】长征五号乙遥三火箭 • 中国空间站实验舱——问天 • LongMarch-5B Y3" [[2022 TBD] Long March 5B Y3 rocket • Chinese Space Station Laboratory Module—Wentian]. spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ↑ "【22年待定】长征五号乙遥四火箭 • 中国空间站实验舱——梦天 • LongMarch-5B Y4" [[2022 TBD] Long March 5B Y4 rocket • Chinese Space Station Laboratory Module—Mengtian]. spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 26 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ↑ "【2022年10月待定】长征七号 • 天舟五号货运飞船 • LongMarch 7 Y6 • Tianzhou-5". spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ↑ "长征二号F • 神舟十五号载人飞船(2022年待定)" [Long March 2F • Shenzhou-15 (2022 TBD)]. spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ↑ "Tianhe, the Core of the Chinese Space Station". The Planetary Society. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
Other websites
change- Chinese Space Agency website
- How to (say or) pronounce Tiangong 天宫. How To Say (at YouTube.com)