On June 5th, China sent three astronauts on another mission on Tiangong, the new space station it is building. Since the Chinese want the site to be operational by December, the crew was sent to stay for six months to get the structure up and running.

The idea is that this period will also prepare astronauts for longterm space stays so they may help train other professionals who will make similar trips in the future. Of the three who were sent on this mission, only Cai Xuzhe had never been to space.

This is the third manned mission to the Chinese space station. The first, which lasted three months, ended in September 2021. The second was completed in April and lasted six months. China is still scheduling another mission with astronauts until the end of the year, in December. It is expected to launch a few days before the crew from the current mission returns to Earth. Thus, China will have six astronauts away from Earth. This would set an all-time record for the largest number of Chinese exploring space at once.

After it is finished, Tiangong should last around 15 years. Right now, there is already a similar structure to the Chinese one in operation. It is the International Space Station (ISS), created in 1998 by nations including the United States and Japan. However, it is expected that the ISS will remain active until 2030. After that, NASA (US space agency, which operates the ISS) intends to let private companies (which do not belong to any government) pursue space exploration. Find out more about the end of the ISS in issue 182.

Questions

1) In all, how many missions to the station does China have planned for 2022?

a) 1

b) 2

c) 3

d) 4

2) Would you embark on a mission to space? Why?

Sources: CNN Brasil, Deutsche Welle, and Poder 360

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