On September 28, 2011 at 15:16 SEL%C, the Long March launch vehicle blasted off from China's Jiakouchuan spaceport in the Gobi Desert, carrying the first module of China's orbital station, known as Tiankong-1, into space.
The module, weighing eight tonnes, 10.4 metres long and 3.35 metres wide, detached from the carrier rocket at an altitude of about 200 km and then ejected two solar panels. China wants to test the equipment and systems needed for long-term operation of the station on the module, which will later be joined by the Shenzhou 8 spacecraft, which is scheduled to launch in November. The first manned flights to the module are planned during 2012.
The orbital station under construction is only temporary and is used for technology validation, for practicing docking manoeuvres and for longer stays of Chinese astronauts. A permanent space station weighing approximately 60 tonnes is planned to be built in 2020.
spravy.pravda.sk
The module, weighing eight tonnes, 10.4 metres long and 3.35 metres wide, detached from the carrier rocket at an altitude of about 200 km and then ejected two solar panels. China wants to test the equipment and systems needed for long-term operation of the station on the module, which will later be joined by the Shenzhou 8 spacecraft, which is scheduled to launch in November. The first manned flights to the module are planned during 2012.
The orbital station under construction is only temporary and is used for technology validation, for practicing docking manoeuvres and for longer stays of Chinese astronauts. A permanent space station weighing approximately 60 tonnes is planned to be built in 2020.
spravy.pravda.sk