The Tianzhou 2 unit docked at the China Tianhe Space Station

yesterday We have written From launching the mission Tianzhu 2 Intended to carry the second unit of Chinese space station, communicate Tianhe, In orbit to call To the main It was launched at the end of April 2021. Eight hours after launch, shortly after 11:00 pm in Italy, contact was made (Docking) Between the two units.

So the mission was a success, although several other launches were still missing before seeing completionThe outpost Intends to host Chinese (and possibly Russian) astronauts. Operations are expected to end in 2022, after a total of 11 launches, including some with crew.

Interestingly, both the launch and the phases Docking This was followed by a several-hour television special on CCTV13. Before launching, China seemed to decide that “shield” The launch site doesn’t show a lot of information about it.

The second unit of the Chinese space station

The unit is called Tianzhu-2 This second space mission essentially included a cargo unit that made it possible to bring supplies into orbit for future crews, gadgets, space suits, and even fuel (about 2 tons) to operate. Chinese space station Tianhe.

Launch a program The second task It happened from the Wenchang Space Port in China using a Long March missile 7 (Not to be confused with The Long March 5 b That caused fears in the past). The carrier includes four side boosters and a main stage, the 604 “After launch, the Tianzhou-2 unit fell from the rocket to continue its flight into orbit. Some leaks from the liquid oxygen tank resulted in a double delay of a few days, yet not compromising the mission.

This missile is 53 meters long, 3.35 meters wide and has a payload mass of 13.5 tons at the start, of which 6.8 tons are supplies and the rest is instead of fuel. Orbit the two units, the most important one of Chinese space station e Tianzhu-2 Its maximum altitude is around 371 km (with some differences).

In the first half of June 2021 (excluding delays), there will be the first so-called manned mission Shenzhou 12. In wood Chinese astronauts It will be able to use the supplies brought into orbit with this mission for three months, as well as spacesuits weighing 100 kg, which will also allow “Spacewalk”.

As mentioned From the Chinese news agency, He will find astronauts “delicious Food”. There will be high-quality meat or vegetable menus including famous Chinese dishes such as pork chops with garlic sauce and kung pao chicken. Now all that remains is to wait for mission news Shenzhou 12 To understand how to develop a project Chinese space station.