China Launches Shenzhou-16 Mission To Chinese Space Station (reuters.com) 14
China sent three astronauts to its now fully operational space station as part of crew rotation on Tuesday in the fifth manned mission to the Chinese space outpost since 2021, state media reported. From a report: The spacecraft, Shenzhou-16, or "Divine Vessel," and its three passengers lifted off atop a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert in northwest China at 9:31 a.m. The astronauts on Shenzhou-16 will replace the three-member crew of the Shenzhou-15, who arrived at the space station late in November. The station, comprising three modules, was completed at the end of last year after 11 crewed and uncrewed missions since April 2021, beginning with the launch of the first and biggest module -- the station's main living quarters. China has already announced plans to expand its permanently inhabited space outpost, with the next module slated to dock with the current T-shaped space station to create a cross-shaped structure.
Disappointed (Score:1)
Surely "fully operational space station" should have linked to Return of the Jedi?
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Surely this old cliche should have died with the repainted original episodes.
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A more modern take might be to point the link to Disney's overpriced Star Wars hotel that's getting shut down.
the race is on (Score:1, Offtopic)
The future's so bright for humanity, innit?
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Next step is the Moon. NASA plans to land there again in 2025, but almost certainly pushed back to 2026 now due to delays with the spacecraft that will take astronauts to the orbit of the Moon. The plan is to then transfer to a SpaceX Starship, which will land on the moon and take off again. Delays to that could also push the first landing back, as there are some key technologies that haven't been demonstrated yet. Obviously it needs to get to orbit first, but the other really big challenge is in-orbit refu
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Its almost as if only one side cares that its a "race", and the other side is just plodding along fulfilling its own goals at its own pace....
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Just docked, 6.5 hours after launch. (Score:4, Informative)
The vessel docked with the space station at 16:29 Beijing Time, about 6.5 hours after launch.
Western Ignorance (Score:2, Interesting)
Ask your buddy about China's space station and see if he knows it exists.
Good times to be had.
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He's not my buddy, pal.