{"id":238230,"date":"2021-04-29T11:15:25","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T08:15:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/a-long-march-to-the-moon-and-beyond-2\/"},"modified":"2021-04-29T11:15:25","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T08:15:25","slug":"a-long-march-to-the-moon-and-beyond-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/a-long-march-to-the-moon-and-beyond-2\/","title":{"rendered":"#A Long March to the Moon and beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#A Long March to the Moon and beyond<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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\"The
\n The launch of a rocket carrying China’s Chang’e-5 lunar probe underlined how much progress Beijing had made towards its ‘space dream’
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The launch of the first module of China’s new space station\u2014”Heavenly Palace”\u2014on Thursday underlined how far the country has come in achieving its space dream.<\/p>\n


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The Tianhe core module houses life support equipment and a living space for astronauts, and is another key step in Beijing’s grand plans to establish a permanent human presence in space.<\/p>\n

Beijing has poured billions into its military-run space programme, with hopes of having a crewed space station by 2022 and eventually sending humans to the Moon.<\/p>\n

The country has come a long way in its race to catch up with the United States and Russia, whose astronauts and cosmonauts have decades of experience in space exploration.<\/p>\n

But Beijing sees its space project as a mark of its rising global stature and growing technological might.<\/p>\n

Here is a look at China’s space programme through the decades, and where it is headed:<\/p>\n

Mao’s vow<\/b><\/p>\n

Soon after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957, Chairman Mao Zedong pronounced: “We too will make satellites.”<\/p>\n

It took more than a decade, but in 1970, China launched its first satellite on a Long March rocket.<\/p>\n

Human spaceflight took decades longer, with Yang Liwei becoming the first Chinese “taikonaut” in 2003.<\/p>\n

As the launch app<\/a>roached, concerns over the viability of the mission caused Beijing to cancel a live television broadcast at the last minute.<\/p>\n

But it went smoothly, with Yang orbiting the Earth 14 times during a 21-hour flight aboard the Shenzhou 5.<\/p>\n

China has launched five crewed missions since.<\/p>\n

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\n The Jade Rabbit lunar rover surveyed the moon’s surface for 31 months
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Space station and ‘Jade Rabbit’<\/b><\/p>\n

Following in the footsteps of the United States and Russia, China is striving to build a space station circling the planet.<\/p>\n

The Tiangong-1 lab was launched in September 2011.<\/p>\n

In 2013, the second Chinese woman in space, Wang Yaping, gave a video class from inside the space module to children across the world’s most populous country.<\/p>\n

The craft was also used for medical experiments and, most importantly, tests intended to prepare for the construction of a space station.<\/p>\n

That was followed by the “Jade Rabbit” lunar rover in 2013, which first appeared a dud when it turned dormant and stopped sending signals back to Earth.<\/p>\n

It made a dramatic recovery, however, ultimately surveying the Moon’s surface for 31 months\u2014well beyond its expected lifespan.<\/p>\n

In 2016, China launched its second orbital lab, the Tiangong-2. Taikonauts who have visited the station have run experiments on growing rice and other plants.<\/p>\n

‘Space dream’<\/b><\/p>\n

Under President Xi Jinping, plans for China’s “space dream”, as he calls it, have been put into overdrive.<\/p>\n

China is looking to finally catch up with the US and Russia after years of belatedly matching their milestones.<\/p>\n

In addition to a space station, China is also planning to build a base on the Moon, and the country’s National Space Administration has said it aims to launch a crewed lunar mission by 2029.<\/p>\n

But lunar work was dealt a setback in 2017 when the Long March-5 Y2, a powerful heavy-lift rocket, failed to launch on a mission to send communication satellites into orbit.<\/p>\n

That forced the postponement of the launch of Chang’e-5, which was originally scheduled to collect Moon samples in the second half of 2017.<\/p>\n

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\n China has been carrying out experiments in a lab simulating a lunar-like environment in preparation for its long-term goal of putting humans on the moon
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Another robot, the Chang’e-4, landed on the far side of the Moon in January 2019\u2014a historic first.<\/p>\n

This was followed by one which landed on the near side of the Moon late last year and raised a Chinese flag on the Moon’s surface.<\/p>\n

The unmanned Chinese spacecraft returned to earth in December with rocks and soil from the Moon\u2014the first lunar samples collected in four decades.<\/p>\n

And the first images of Mars were sent back by the five-tonne Tianwen-1 in February, days before it entered the Red Planet’s orbit.<\/p>\n

It includes a Mars orbiter, a lander and a rover that will study the planet’s soil.<\/p>\n

China hopes to ultimately land the rover in May in Utopia, a massive impact basin on Mars.<\/p>\n

Palace in the sky<\/b><\/p>\n

The Chinese space station named Tiangong\u2014meaning “heavenly palace”\u2014will need around 10 missions to bring up more parts and assemble them into orbit.<\/p>\n

Once completed, it is expected to remain in low Earth orbit at between 400 and 450 kilometres above our planet for 15 years.<\/p>\n

It would realise an ambition to keep a long-term human presence in space.<\/p>\n

While China does not plan to use its space station for international cooperation on the scale of the ISS, Beijing has said it is open to foreign collaboration.<\/p>\n

But it is not yet clear how extensive that cooperation will be in a project of national prestige and security.<\/p>\n

As the rocket carrying the first module tore through the sky, state media<\/a> was in triumphant mood.<\/p>\n

“A palace in the sky will no longer be just a romantic fantasy of the ancients,” the TV anchor said.<\/p>\n\n

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China’s ‘space dream’: A Long March to the Moon and beyond\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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\n \u00a9 2021 AFP<\/p>\n

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Citation<\/strong>:
\n China’s ‘space dream’: A Long March to the Moon and beyond (2021, April 29)
\n retrieved 29 April 2021
\n from https:\/\/phys.org\/news<\/a>\/2021-04-china-space-moon.html<\/p>\n

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