Moscow. October 15th. INTERFAX.RU – The Chinese manned spacecraft “Shenzhou-13” on Friday Moscow time launched to the created national orbital space station, the PRC Manned Flight Program Administration (CMSA) reported.
The launch was carried out using the Changzheng-2F (Long March 2F) rocket from the launch pad at the Jiuquan Cosmodrome in Gansu province in northwestern China on Saturday at 00:23 Beijing time (Friday at 19: 23 Moscow time).
The spacecraft has already entered orbit, now it will automatically approach and dock with the Tianhe main module of the Chinese space station and form an orbital complex with it and the Tianzhou-2 and Tianzhou-3 cargo ships. Mooring to the module will be carried out eight hours after the start.
The Shenzhou-13 spacecraft will deliver a crew of three taikonauts (the Chinese name for cosmonauts is IF ) to the Tianhe base module of the Chinese Tiangong space station, including one woman. They are the commander of the spacecraft Zhai Zhigang, the female taikonaut Wang Yaping and the taikonaut Ye Guangfu, for whom this will be the first flight into space. The crew will operate in orbit for six months. This will be the longest space flight in the history of the PRC.
In China, this is the 20th flight of the spacecraft with the taikonauts since the beginning of the manned space flight program, as well as the second manned mission to the space station under construction.
While in orbit, the taikonauts will make two or three spacewalks. They will also carry out a number of scientific studies.
The Tianhe module was launched into orbit in April. From June 17 to September 16, three taikonauts who arrived on the Shenzhou-12 ship were already working at the station. During a three-month stay, they conducted various experiments, installed and adjusted the operation of onboard equipment and twice went into open space for installation work.
The creation of a full-fledged orbital station should be completed in 2022. Seven more launches are planned for the basic module. In particular, it is supposed to dock two laboratory modules – “Wentian” and “Mentian”. In addition, in the coming time, two cargo ships and three manned ships with taikonauts will be sent to the station.
The total weight of the Tiangong station, which will be located at an altitude of 400 km, after the completion of its construction will be about 90 tons. It will be five times smaller than the International Space Station and will be capable of receiving three crew members on a permanent basis (and up to six when changing crews). The Chinese space station has a lifespan of about 10 years.
It is planned that an autonomous Xuntian module with an optical telescope with a mirror diameter of two meters will also be launched into orbit as a component of the station. It will maneuver in orbit with its propulsion system and dock at the station from time to time for refueling and maintenance.
