Podcasts & RSS Feeds Thu September 29, 2011 China Launches
'Heavenly Palace 1' Into Space; Takes Step Toward Station With a
nighttime liftoff from a launch pad on the edge of the Gobi
Desert, China today put its unmanned Tiangong-1 ("Heavenly
Palace-1") module into orbit and started a decade-long project
aimed at constructing its own space station. The module will
"conduct surveys of Chinese farmland using special cameras,
along with experiments involving growing crystals in zero
gravity," The Associated Press says. Then, in coming years:
"China ... plans to launch an unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft to
practice remote-controlled docking maneuvers with the module,
possibly within the next few weeks. Two more missions, at least
one of them manned, are to meet up with it next year for further
practice, with astronauts staying for up to one month. "The
8.5-ton module ... is to stay aloft for two years, after which
two other experimental modules are to be launched for additional
tests before the actual station is l