China sent its first civilian into space on Tuesday

Recently, China announced that it plans to send astronauts to the surface of the Moon before 2030. But the Chinese space agency carried out a manned launch that reached the Tiangong Space Station this Tuesday (30).

Lin Xiqiang, Vice President of the Human Space Flight Agency, explained: civilian, Gui Haichao, professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Beihang University in China. He will be responsible for conducting scientific tests such as “large-scale orbital experiments to study new quantum phenomena, verify general relativity, and understand high-precision time-frequency space systems.”

The launch took place last Monday (29) at 22:31 (Brasília time), at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Station in the Chinese time zone, the flight took place at 9:31 am on the 30th. At a press conference, Gui said he has always dreamed of becoming an astronaut and has been interested in the field since the first Chinese Yang Liwei’s trip to space in 2003.

Until then, China had sent astronauts only from the People’s Liberation Army, which was considered the main military force of the People’s Republic of China. For this reason, a civilian astronaut on duty could herald a new era for the Chinese space agency, to open doors for other ordinary citizens.

The Chinese station should have been completed by November 2022, when the third module docked. However, Lin claims that a fourth module will be released and deployed in the near future. The Tiangong Space Station will have a permanent crew and the astronauts will be rotated periodically through a rotation system.

“[O astronauta civil será responsável] “By conducting large-scale orbital experiments to study new quantum phenomena, high-precision time-frequency space systems, validation of general relativity, and the origin of life,” Xiqiang said.

First Chinese civilian in space

Six hours after takeoff, the spacecraft successfully docked with the central module of the Tiangong Space Station. According to the information received from the state channel CCTVThe astronauts were able to launch in good conditions and are already safe.

In addition to Gui Haichao, commander Jin Haipeng and aerospace engineer Zhu Yangzhu are also joining the mission. China also plans to build bases on the Moon to send astronauts to a permanent Moon station; According to the Chinese space agency, the next trip to the Moon will be a short stay aimed at further research on the lunar surface.