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China Scores Another Triumph in Space

This week's docking of the Shenzhou spacecraft with the orbiting Tiangong 1 prototype space station is a small, albeit significant step.
An artist's impression of a Shenzhou spacecraft (Shenzhou 9) docking with the Tiangong 1 space station. Photo via.

China took another major step in space this week. After launching into orbit on Tuesday, the Shenzhou 10 spacecraft has successfully docked with the orbiting Tiangong 1 prototype space station. Not bad for a manned space program that’s only a decade old.

After a false start in the 1950s wherein Chinese rockets based on Soviet technology failed to fly, China’s space program began in earnest in 1996. That year, the nation launched its first Long March rocket, a vehicle capable of putting a payload into orbit. This first launch failed, but the second try in 1999 was a success, marking a significant milestone for China’s move into space.

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In 2003, the first taikonaut (China’s term for astronaut) flew. On October 15, 2003, Yang Limei became the first taikonaut in orbit aboard the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft and China became only the third nation to launch it’s own people. The pace increased from there with two additional manned missions, one in 2005 and the other in 2008.

Then, in 2011, China launched Tiangong 1 (which means “Heavenly Palace”). It’s a prototype for a future space station, currently serving as a test bed for docking operations but indicative of the station China hopes to launch some day in an effort to secure a lasting foothold in space. And it’s one that’s necessary since China isn’t a participating country in the International Space Station, largely because of American opposition.

The Shenzhou 10 crew eating in orbit. Photo via.

And that’s where the latest crew of taikonauts is now, in orbit aboard Tiangong 1. On Thursday at 1:18 p.m. Beijing time (1:18 a.m. ET), the Shenzhou 10 spacecraft made an automated docking with the space station. Three hours later, the crew—Nie Haisheng, Zhang Xiaoguang, and Wang Yaping, China's second female astronaut—opened the hatch and moved into their Heavenly Palace. They delivered cargo supplies and settled in for a 15-day mission.

While aboard the prototype space station, the Shenzhou 10 crew will carry out scientific and technical experiments and deliver a lecture to students on Earth. They will also run through more docking tests. The crew is scheduled to regain their spacecraft and separate from the space station, backing away and then redocking under pilot control this time.

Once this mission end, Tiangong 1’s days will be numbered; China intends to deorbit the station later this year. In it’s place, the nation will launch a more advanced labs for further testing.

This week’s automated docking is a small step; in 2011, two unmanned Shenzhou spacecraft made automated docking with the station prototype and the crew of Shenzhou 9 made two test dockings last year. But it’s still a significant one, keeping China on track to create and launch a fully functional space station by 2020. And it’s test missions like these that will give the nation the experience it needs to complete more sophisticated missions in the future, like manned missions to the Moon.

There's no “race” per se between China and America in space, but China does have a long term plan and seems to be doing a good job sticking to it.