Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth Thursday (June 28) after 13 days in space on a historic mission that made their country only the third nation ever to successfully dock a manned spacecraft to another in orbit.
China's Shenzhou 9 space capsule landed at about10 p.m. EDT (10 a.m. Friday, June 29 Beijing time) in Inner Mongolia.
"We fulfilled the first manned manual docking," mission commander Jing Haipeng told CCTV reporters after exiting the Shenzhou 9 capsule. [Photos of China's Shenzhou 9 Mission]
Jing and crewmates Liu Yang and Liu Wang appeared to be in good health after their space mission.
Shortly after the landing, China's Premier Wen Jiabao proclaimed the Shenzhou 9 mission a complete success.
"This manned docking mission of Tiangong 1 and Shenzhou 9 marks a large milestone, a major breakthrough for China to master the space docking technology," Wen said "And also, it marks a decisive step forward on China's second step on its space strategy."
China's big space leap
China's Shenzhou 9 mission, which included successful displays of manual and automatic dockings, represented an important leap forward for China's space program. In addition to being China's longest space mission to date, it also tested technology vital for the country's goal of building space station in orbit by the year 2020.
And while the orbital linkups are important technological achievements for China, the mission also carried a wider social impact because it included the country's first female astronaut: the 33-year-old Liu Yang.
China's space station goal
The successful linkups made China only the third country, after the United States and Russia, to accomplish manned dockings in orbit.
The Shenzhou 9 mission, as well as experiments performed aboard Tiangong 1 throughout the flight, tested technologies that will help China fulfill its goal of building a 60-ton space station in orbit by 2020. [How China's Space Station Will Work (Infographic)]
But Chinese officials have outlined an ambitious space program for the nation, which includes collecting samples from the moon and robotically returning them to Earth before landing astronauts on the lunar surface.
The Shenzhou 9 mission is China's fourth manned spaceflight. Previous expeditions were launched in 2003, 2005 and 2008.
"Based on current conditions, the service of Tiangong 1 can be extended," said He Yu, chief commander of the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, reported Xinhua. "It has consumed less than one-fourth of its fuel and no back-up systems have been used."
"If Tiangong 1 was in perfect shape, it could work side by side with Tiangong 2, which will be launched in the future," He said.
12 comments:
What did our space traveller ever achieve save for being a passenger on a Rusian spacecraft and lord only knows what scientific test he ever carried.
Hey, who knows the government's "con"sultants could be busy at work hatching a plan to siphon of our money on another project to space.
When our Government sent Sheikh Muzaffar into space, chorus of dissent voices came from Chinese bloggers, ridiculing the Government long-term space program. To them the RM100m over could have been used to help the lower-income group in the country to buy houses etc.
Look, 50% of the Chinese in China are still poor peasant farmers in northen and eastern provinces of China. Why then not using the money for the space program to help out the disadvantaged half of China?
The only reason I can think of WHY the Malaysian Chinese bloggers were against the sending of Sheikh Muzaffar into space WAS the fact that the Sheikh Muzaffar is a MALAY. The Malaysian Chinese just hate to be OUT-DONE by the Malays. For the same reason, the Malaysian Chinese hate the Petronas Twin-Towers, which symbolised how Tun Mahathir OUT-DONE Lee Kwan Yew.
Betul, bangsa hati kaudu pantang tengok Melayu maju. Si Apek duk kutuk, tak ada lah yg bagus kalo Melayu tu. Yang si nyonya dok mengorek/mengali/golddigging. Itu pon ada Melayu tonggang terbalik cium jubur worship jenis ni. Tak ada kelas langsung, dayus!!
Warisan tmk
I think you need to come up with better reasoning than whatever rubbish you posted.
Spending money on space program so that you are not dependent on western space technologies (China) is extremely different from getting a passenger seat in russian rocket in exchange for buying their MIG or Sukhois (Malaysia).
Think before you write.
China's space program is a total waste. No one over there dare to question and audit the total cost of the program. Those Commie just pluck numbers from the trees to make it good for people to see. Plus, billions more still living in poverty and they managed to spend money on wasteless project. Truly and only Commie nation can do that.
Yeah, The great Chingks have achieved at the speed of light what the Yanks and Russkies took years to perfect. How come ah, you must be wondering? Superior yellow intellect trumpin the barbarians once again? Nahlah, if you are an expert at pilfering, anything and everything can be yours with the sky er...space your limit:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-18/chinese-espionage-campaign-targets-u-s-space-technology.html
and somewhere buried in this extract is that mention of pilfering once again that is beginning to drive away investors..slowly but surely:
"It’s a trickle, but US companies are again making products in the United States. While many of those companies have been small, like ET Water Systems, there have also been some highly visible moves by the country’s largest consumer and industrial manufacturers. General Electric and Caterpillar, for example, have moved assembly operations back to the United States in the last year. (Airbus, a European company, is said to be near a deal to build jets in Alabama.)
There is no single reason for the change. Rising labor and energy costs have made manufacturing in China significantly more expensive; transportation costs have risen; companies have become increasingly aware of the risks of the theft of intellectual property when products are made in China; and in a business where time-to-market is a competitive advantage, it is easier for engineers to drive 10 minutes on the freeway to the factory than to fly for 16 hours."
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/28/technology/google-and-others-give-manufacturing-in-the-us-a-try.html?pagewanted=all
Enjoy!
Warrior 231
Warrior 231 is just another jealous prick. Every major city in China now has a brand new subway system. Bolehland is building its subway at double the price because of Bolehland's efficiency and comparative advantage ? Ptui !
What did our space traveller do to benefit Bolehland, except for the standard jaguh kampung or ketuanan melayu comment ? oh I forgot, he did figure out how teh tarik works in outer space.....
Godfather
Warrior 231? Why 'warrior'? Who are you fighting? Grow up. So much pleasure in "hate for the sake of hate". Did your father shortchange you? Maybe he ran away from mom? Please drop this silly name. And dont use 'Silat Goncang' either. We know that you too can masturbate inside a blanket.
Pilfering space age technology from the US. Try Googling 'Werner Von Braun'. Born German, worked for Hitler, shot thousands of V1 and V2s into London. Then what happened? He died as an American hero. A great Yank.
Also Google Ethel Rosenberg? Julius Rosenberg? The people who gave the atomic bomb to Russia.
Also Google D.A.R.P.A. They say they prevented industrial espionage. They dont say that they also steal other people's secrets.
Finally do Yahoo 'Chinese scientists in NASA' - "..over 300 Chinese scientists in US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)."
Enjoy!
when people got money, they can anything but they must also got technology and scientific skills to build rockets.
can ppl differentiate between a 'guest' astronaut and a working astronaut??, if u got money can buy a 'passenger seat', russia offer such commercial trip
AKU HENSEM
THAT THE BEST CHINESE CAN DO
DENY ONE MALAY SUCCESS FLYING INTO SPACE
TIME TO RETURN TO THE MAINLAND
kecoh la.. at least dia sampai jugak kt station angkasa..doesnt matter he is a space tourist or real astronaut. and YES . he is a malay!!!!
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