At the end of September, China joined the United States and Russia and became the third country to successfully launch a space station into orbit. The launch marks the country's most impressive entry into the space race thus far, and proves that the Chinese program is a force to be reckoned with. On November 1, China added another feather to their space travel cap with the launch of the Shenzhou-8 capsule, which blasted off on an unmanned mission to dock with the Tiangong-1 space station.
Assuming it's successful, the Shenzhou-8 mission will mark China's first space docking of one vehicle with another already in orbit. That essential step will in turn make it possible for the future construction of a multi-module space station by 2020, which is the country's goal.
The launch went off without a hitch, and it will take two days for the Shenzhou-8 to catch up with the Tiangong-1. After conducting five orbital maneuvers to match orbits and link up with the space station, the first practice docking will occur. The capsule will remain docked with the space station for 12 days, then practice un-docking and docking again. It will then un-dock and return to earth just as it would if it had a human crew aboard.
The Shenzhou-8 mission is an important accomplishment for China's space program. While the United States continues to experience budget cuts and other struggles, China is rapidly and enthusiastically expanding their reach beyond the bounds of Earth's atmosphere. If all goes as planned, manned missions to the Tiangong-1 space station could begin as soon as 2012. Watch the video below to see the Shenzhou-8 launch!
University Today via Geekosystem
This article was written by Katherine Gray and originally appeared on Tecca
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