China Blasts Off to Space
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A major breakthrough in the space race for China amid US-placed obstacles: China's longest crewed mission to space.
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3D illustration of Tiangong, the Chinese space station, orbiting Earth (Getty)
China launched Saturday its longest crewed mission to date, and it consists of a rocket carrying three astronauts to the new Chinese space station.
The three astronauts took off shortly after midnight (16:00 Occupied Jerusalem Time) from the Jiuaquan launch center in the Gobi desert. The team is expected to spend six months at the newly established Chinese Tiagong space station.
Following the launch, the China Manned Space Agency declared it successful and said the crew members "were in good shape," said Xinhua.
The 180-day mission will set up equipment and test technology for future expansion of construction projects on Tiangong.
The commander of the mission is Zhai Zhigang, a former fighter pilot who performed China's first spacewalk around 13 years ago. The 55-year-old veteran said the team would undertake "more complex" spacewalks than during previous missions.
This mission will constitute a landmark for China in several ways; apart from it being their longest mission, this mission will see the first Chinese woman to visit the nation's space station. She is Wang Yaping, a 41-year-old military pilot, and she became China's second woman in space in 2013.
The third crew member is Ye Gauangfu, a 41-year-old People's Liberation Army pilot.
The Chinese space program has already made several remarkable achievements, as it has seen Beijing land a rover on Mars and send probes to the moon. China's Tiangong space station is expected to operate for at least 10 more years.
The space station has many missions, such as making breakthroughs in permanent human operations in orbit. Its core module entered orbit earlier this year, and the station itself is expected to be fully operational by 2022.
Tiangong means "heavenly palace," and it is a quantum leap in our modern-day space race.
China's space efforts have been hindered due to the United States banning its astronauts from the International Space Station, and that is part of the reason why Beijing is aiming for space: to make advancements in the space race.
