The return of China’s record-setting Shenzhou-13 mission on April 16 ended a six-month stay at the Tiangong space station with a three-person crew. One major goal was to prepare the station for future groups of taikonauts, who will complete the assembly of the space station, scheduled for completion by the end of this year.
The Shenzhou-13 crew was responsible for unpacking some of the science instruments which will be used for experiments on the station. They also performed two spacewalks, conducted more than 20 different science experiments, and delivered two live educational lectures. During the first spacewalk, they installed the robotic arm’s suspension and adapter and also tested the equipment. On the second spacewalk, they deployed an external “panoramic camera,” installed a foot restraint platform, and tested various methods of moving objects outside the station with the space arm.
Shenzhou-13 was the first six-month mission on the space station, which will give those on the ground the opportunity to study the effects of the longer-duration mission on the taikonauts, which mimics the effects of aging. The six-month stay will become the norm for crews in the future.
Visiting the Wenchang Space Launch Center on April 15, President Xi Jinping said that the facility serves China’s new-generation heavy-lift carrier rockets and plays a significant role in the country’s deep-space exploration endeavors. The Chinese President called for efforts to attain “world-leading standards” for China’s spacecraft launch facilities.
CGTN.com carried an opinion piece by EIR’s Marsha Freeman on the mission on its website today. (https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-04-17/Shenzhou-13-crew-prepares-station-for-future-science-19iZ3i0jTbi/index.html)
