China is about to make its presence felt in space with its first manned space mission. This manned space flight has been planned to be carried out later this month.
China launched an unmanned module called "Tiangong-1" ("Heavenly Palace") last September in low Earth orbit. Later, they demonstrated another first by completing its complicated space docking. It was completed by remote control. China is the third country after United States and Russia that managed to do so. Now, the country is planning to send residents for "Tiangong-1".
China announced the plan of the first manned mission "Shenzhou-9" earlier this year. There are possibilities that three Taikonauts will go to Tiangong-1 for a short stay. They are going to stay there for conducting experiments and techniques required for longer stays. Longer stays are needed for a larger station's construction.
Three astronauts will leave for the station with an orbiting experimental module. The crew might also include China's first female space traveler. A government news agency revealed this news last Saturday. Niu Hongguang, deputy commander in chief of the manned space program also confirmed this news.
They are planning to stay at the Tiangong-1 launched last year. The government did not reveal about the mission's time frame.
China is planning to develop a complete orbiting space station and this mission is a part of the program. Beijing is planning to complete this space station by 2020. The orbiting space station will replace Tingong-1 once it's complete. It will be slightly smaller than the 16-nation International Space Station and is about 60 tons.
