China To Launch Space Station Within A Decade
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China intends to launch its very own orbiting space station by 2023, announced officials at the 64th International Astronautical Congress in Beijing on Thursday, with an initial mission to study the effects of long-term weight loss in space, the effects of radiation on astronauts, in-orbit medical monitoring and the application of traditional Chinese medicine in space.
China intends to launch its very own orbiting space station by 2023, announced officials at the 64th International Astronautical Congress in Beijing on Thursday, with an initial mission to study the effects of long-term weight loss in space, the effects of radiation on astronauts, in-orbit medical monitoring and the application of traditional Chinese medicine in space.
According to the Xinhua news agency, the “Nyu Wa Project”, named after a ancient Chinese mythological goddess, will be open to foreign scientists and astronauts; and support six crew on short-term missions and three for long-term stays.
The space station would also cover an area of 60 sqm, designed with three capsules – a core module attached to two laboratories – and a cargo vessel to transport supplies.
Though the Nyu Wa will be dwarfed in size by the International Space Station, it will mark only the fourth attempt by the world to build an orbital facility for humans, noted The Register.
Once operational, astronauts would be able to make long-term missions in orbit and conduct technical tests and science experiments, said Wang Zhaoyao, the director of the China Manned Space Agency to the BBC.
[quote]”Space medicine is not only good for the health of astronauts, but also has great potential for improving the health of people on Earth,” Chen Shanguang, director of the Astronaut Center of China, said on Thursday.[/quote]“We would like to train astronauts from other countries and organizations that have such a demand, and we would be glad to provide trips to foreign astronauts,” added Yang Liwei, Deputy Director of the China Manned Space Agency.
The first test module for the Nyu Wa Project will be put into orbit within two years and will be an unmanned unit intended to test out life support systems and orbital refueling.
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China is only the third country in the world to have independently launched a human into space and has been rapidly expanding its space programme ever since. In June last year, it successfully carried out its first manual space docking, an essential step into building a space station.
The Chinese space program has also recently announced plans to put a rover on the Moon by this Christmas.
[quote]”I look forward to seeing that and other accomplishments of China in the coming stages,” said American astronaut Sandra Magnus during the congress in Beijing, as cited by the People’s Daily.[/quote]
