Exciting! Beijing time at 6:56 a.m. on October 16, Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft successfully completed the radial rendezvous, which is also the first time that China has independently completed a rapid radial rendezvous and docking in space, and at present, in the world, in addition to the United States and Russia, this technology can only be done by China, and China is still independently developed and completed, which is a new breakthrough for the development of China's aerospace, which is really gratifying.
After the successful docking, the "new tenants" of the Chinese space station- Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu, successively entered the Tianhe core module and officially began a six-month on-orbit work.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > so what is the mission of the three astronauts this time? </h1>
This time, the three astronauts need to live in space for 6 months, which is also the longest space mission in orbit in China, for the astronauts, whether from the physiological or psychological, including physical health, is a big challenge.
Although they have just entered space, they have already begun to devote themselves to related training as early as the beginning of March 2017 for this six-month space mission.
Of course, in the end, these three astronauts stood out and successfully performed space missions as the second batch of "new tenants" of the Chinese space station, which also means that their various tests are perfectly up to standard, coupled with full cooperation on the ground, everyone does not need to worry about the health of these three astronauts in the next 6 months.
From Shenzhou XII in orbit for 3 months to Shenzhou XIII in orbit for 6 months, the time has increased by 3 months, and some friends may be curious, do you really need to live in space for such a long time?
In fact, this is the key to the benchmarking of China's space station and the international space station, because although it seems to us that the time of one-time orbit seems to be very long, for the International Space Station, this is a very normal residence cycle, and in the future, after the Chinese space station officially begins to operate in full operation, other astronauts will also stay for at least 6 months.
Naturally, this time, Zhai Zhigang and three other astronauts are also completely in accordance with international standards, which can help us understand a series of changes in the physiology, body, genes and many other aspects of male and female astronauts after 6 months in orbit, and these data are extremely valuable.
At the same time, in the next 6 months, they will also perform the outgoing mission many times, and Wang Yaping will also become the first female astronaut in China's history to perform the outgoing mission.
In addition, this time because of the very sufficient time, the three astronauts will also carry out more experimental projects in space, including Wang Yaping, who has previously taught in space, and it is also possible to teach space for everyone again through the form of live broadcast.
Speaking of which, in the international community, people from other countries who enter space are called "astronauts", but China is called "astronauts", in this regard, there are views that this is because China's astronauts have not yet landed on the moon, so although they have entered space, they are not really astronauts, is this really the case?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="23" > so why are Chinese astronauts not called astronauts? </h1>
In fact, China's astronauts are not called astronauts, not because we have not landed on the moon, but astronauts are exclusive to China, a distinctive name, and the origin of this name is also very meaningful.
The name "astronaut" was proposed by Mr. Qian Xuesen, the founder of China's aerospace industry, because China has navigators and aviators, so it is also a continuation of the style, which has also become one of the characteristics of China's aerospace.
Internationally, other countries are called astronauts because they are named after the former Soviet Union. As we all know, the former Soviet Union was the first country in human history to successfully achieve manned space flight, and at that time, the former Soviet cosmonauts named "космонавт" (the English version is Cosmonaut), which is derived from the Greek language, meaning "the whole universe", so it is also called an astronaut.
In China, the English word for astronauts uses Taikonaut, taiko and the pronunciation of Chinese "space", is very similar, rather than using the international cosmonaut, naturally, it also makes the characteristics of China's aerospace more distinctive.
Therefore, in the future, even if China's astronauts land on the moon, Mars, or even have the opportunity to leave the solar system, we will still be called astronauts, not astronauts.
Now, the Chinese space station has ushered in the second batch of three astronauts, and they will not return to Earth after completing their on-orbit mission until mid-to-late April next year, so when will Shenzhou XIV be launched?
Judging from the timetable of the Chinese space station, before the end of 2022, the Chinese space station will complete all the on-orbit construction tasks, and the main on-orbit construction tasks are concentrated in the mission phase of Shenzhou XIV, so after the return of Shenzhou XIII in April next year, Shenzhou XIV will also perform 6 months of on-orbit missions, and it is very likely that it will be launched in May-June next year.
China's aerospace has entered a new period of rapid development, and the Chinese space station has also ushered in a new moment of decisive victory, which really makes us feel excited and proud, I wish the three astronauts all the best, and I also wish China's space development better and better!