Lunar Update: Twilight for Tiangong

Twilight for Tiangong

In keeping up with the news, some information on Tiangong 1.

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Twilight for Tiangong

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Twilight_for_Tiangong_999.html

by Morris JonesSydney, Australia (SPX) Jun 28, 2013

How long will Tiangong 1 remain in orbit? There's probably no urgent need to terminate its mission. While it remains aloft, the cameras can still be used and engineering studies can be performed. This is icing on the cake for the mission, providing more data for little extra investment

The return to Earth of China's Shenzhou 10 spacecraft has wrapped up an important chapter in spaceflight. China has now completed all crewed activity with Tiangong 1, the nation's first space laboratory. Tiangong 1 has had a long and busy service record since its launch in 2011, and the laboratory has now completed all of the major tasks assigned to it. Tiangong 1 is now in its twilight phase, but this does not mean that its story is complete.

Tiangong 1 is the first step in a long-term program to build a large Chinese space station. It has demonstrated critical tasks such as rendezvous and docking with Shenzhou spacecraft. Tiangong has received dockings from three missions, Shenzhous 8, 9 and 10.

The last two missions both carried astronauts to occupy the laboratory. It has shown that China can support astronauts in comfort for extended periods. There have also been experiments with manual dockings and different approach patterns for dockings. This rather small module has achieved a lot over its lifetime.

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Dr Morris Jones is an Australian space analyst who has reported on China's space program for SpaceDaily.com since 1999. Email morrisjonesNOSPAMhotmail.com. Replace NOSPAM with @ to send email

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Tiangong 1 information on spaceflight 101

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http://www.spaceflight101.com/tiangong-1-info.html
Tiangong 1 - Spacecraft Information

Tiangong 1 is China's first Space Station Module that is the nation's first step towards its ultimate goal of developing, building, and operating a large Space Station as a permanent human presence in Low Earth Orbit. The vehicle was launched on September 29, 2012 aboard a Long March 2F Launch Vehicle. The Space Station Module is planned to welcome 3 visiting vehicles, the unmanned Shenzhou 8 test flight to demonstrate Rendezvous and Docking technology and the manned Shenzhou 9 and 10 missions that will utilize Tiangong 1 for experiments and tests associated with 'living in space'. Tiangong 1 is planned to be deorbited in 2013 and replaced by Tiangong 2, a larger, more sophisticated Space Laboratory. Tiangong 3 will follow by 2016 to prepare the final steps on the way to a large Station in Low Earth Orbit. Chinese Officials have indicated that their new space station will be as big as the US Skylab Space Station that orbited Earth in the 1970s. This large station is expected to open for business by 2020 - according to Chinese sources. Tiangong means Heavenly Palace. Tiangong-1 orbits Earth at 330 to 370 Kilometers with an inclination of 42 degrees.

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Images and information on CNTV

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http://english.cntv.cn/special/tiangong1/live/index.shtml

Tiangong 1 China's First Space Rendezvous and Docking Task

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Other news that has happened.

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