The Truth About Tianzhou 2 | Chinese Space Station

 

by this time next year there will be  another space station orbiting the earth  and in a couple more years it could be  the only one  if you can't join them beat them china  just launched its own space station  welcome to fact nominal and we're  bringing you some exciting news  in china just launched its own space    station  when you think space station two things  immediately pop into mind the  mirror and the international space  station  china were the quiet achievers in space  travel for a long time  but in the last few years they have made  great strides in technology that have  cemented their presence  up above and beyond the boundaries of  our blue planet  to understand how big an accomplishment  this is  it helps to take a look back at where  china came from  a bit of history so china was a little  bit of a late bloomer  the launching of sputnik won by the  soviet union back in 1947  was the catalyst for the people's  republic of china leader mao  to announce that his nation will become  equal with other world superpowers  launching their first satellite into  space  in just two years time to celebrate the  party's 10th  anniversary things didn't go exactly  according to plan though and it wasn't  until 1964  that china launched its first sounding  rocket into  space things didn't exactly go to plan  though  and it wasn't until 1964 that china  launched its first sounding rocket into  space  carrying a cargo of live white mice  1970 their first satellite then a long  time between drinks  over a period of three years spanning  from 1999 to 2002  china test launched a total of four  unmanned spacecraft in preparation for  something big  finally in 2003 it became just the third  nation to send an astronaut into space  using a rocket from their own space  program from there the accolades came  thick and fast  2007 they launched their first lunar  orbiter craft  2008 first spacewalk 2011 their first  space lab tiangong  one affectionately known as heavenly  palace won  with a test carried out that same year  docking an unmanned spacecraft to it  not to be outdone by the russians and  the americans china landed their first  unmanned spacecraft on the moon in 2013  2016 saw their ambitions grow sending a  second experimental space laboratory up  into orbit around the earth as a  stepping stone for their bold new plan  of having a permanent space station  commissioned and occupied by their  astronauts in 2022  2019 was the year that china started to  make some history of its own  being the first nation to land an  unmanned spacecraft on the far side of  the moon  the americans and soviets had seen in  from probe flybys  but it never touched down for a soft  landing last year china put its final  satellite into orbit to complete the  beidou network  a satellite navigation system they  completely owned and controlled  entirely separate from the united states  global positioning system  a huge feat the same year they hurled a  probe out in the direction of mars  their first independent mission to  another planet within our solar system  additionally another probe was sent to  the moon to collect and return  four pounds of lunar samples back to  earth the first  since the soviets in 1976.  this is an important precursor to their  ambitions of one day  setting up a crude moon base and the  planting of a chinese flag on the moon's  surface is the perfect segway into our  story  the third space station the tiangong  three  is effectively the third space station  placed into orbit by the chinese space  program  the previous two were tests for the main  event  with the tn living quarters core modules  sent  up in april of this year eventually  additional modules will be added until  its expected completion next year  once complete the 66-ton tiangong-3  has initially been earmarked to have a  10-year operational life  it will orbit the earth in an elliptical  pattern with an altitude ranging from  310  to 280 miles above the planet's surface  other details are understandably hard to  come by with the chinese space program  fiercely protective of its plan for  space exploration  employing a policy of keeping its cards  closer to its chest  even more so than the u.s the chinese  state-run media regularly proclaims the  benefits of the space dream and its  importance as a step in the path to  national rejuvenation  president xi jinping has thrown massive  support and funding  to get the tiangong 3 project off the  ground and into space  why the moon in space in general has  become such a hot topic for chinese  leadership  is unknown we know what you're thinking  why go to all the trouble why not just  use the iss like the other nations of  the world  it's not a simple answer china has never  been aboard the iss  though the vast majority of the  astronauts on board come from the usa  and russia  it's the combined effort and a true  global space project  currently 15 nations have had astronauts  step foot on the international space  station  with china being the one glaring  omission in 2011 the u.s department of  defense which has jurisdiction over nasa  and space missions  allocated funds with the stipulation  that they not be used to collaborate in  any way  with china unless a law specifically  authorizes it  the documentation is thought to be  related to china's alleged human rights  violation  as well as national security concerns  the us government instantly shuts down  the idea of potential collaboration with  china  as soon as it's brought in front of  congress such is their desire to protect  their intellectual property  china maintains the stance that their  new tiangong 3 space station  wasn't developed to compete with the iss  in terms of presence and scale but it  does make you think  the chinese government has always  maintained that its exploration of outer  space  be conducted peacefully and in union  with other nations  however whether this is just face value  is anyone's guess  with the mir space station  decommissioned currently the  international space station is the only  manned craft in orbit right now  but as with any piece of equipment it  has a finite life span  expected to be decommissioned in 2028  the us have already awarded elon musk's  spacex a contract  to use their falcon heavy rockets to  take sections  of a new space station up in 2024  the power and propulsion systems and the  habitation and logistics outpost  dubbed the lunar gateway this high-tech  living quarters will  cost nasa 332 million dollars just on  its lonesome and be the base of  operations and home away from home for  astronauts conducting  the artemis lunar missions even so  that would leave the tiangong 3 as the  only space station existing  in an earth-bound orbit as said if you  can't join them  beat them do you think china joining the  space race is a good thing  will this mean collaboration or more  conflict in space  if you enjoyed this article and want to  make 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