Chinese Space Program Takes Giant Leap
China launches the unmanned Tiangong 1 later this week, setting up opportunities for docking and long-duration stays. John Matson reports
Who will be next to get to the moon? Maybe China. The upstart Chinese space program could take a step closer this week by launching the Tiangong 1, or "Heavenly Palace," into orbit.
"The Tiangong itself is a very small craft, roughly about, I believe, eight tons, and it's smaller than our SkyLab was.” Dean Cheng of the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. “And the main purpose of this is two things: one, to practice docking maneuvers, and two, to allow Chinese astronauts to have a little more extended time in a microgravity environment."
Tiangong could pave the way for a future Chinese space station and for exploration further afield. An unmanned spacecraft will reportedly dock with it later this year.
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"If that works out well then we would expect to see, next year, missions Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10, both of which would be manned, doing docking with the Tiangong craft and probably moderate-duration stays."
—John Matson
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]
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