China’s youngest female astronaut reaches space
Last Updated on November 2, 2024 4:58 am
Different countries in the world are trying to establish dominance by sending astronauts into space. So far, America and Russia have had several successes in this regard. However, the Asian country China is also trying to reach a milestone.
A Chinese spacecraft carrying three astronauts went into space on Wednesday after a journey of more than six hours. Among them is the country’s youngest and first female space engineer. BBC News.
After the International Space Station, China has also established its own space station. After a six-hour journey at 4:30 am local time, the three Chinese astronauts reached the Tiangong Space Station. They will remain in space for the next six months.
The Xinzhou spaceship launched into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Mongolia’s Gansu province. This was China’s fourteenth space mission. The team includes commander Cai Xuzhe, 48, Song Lingdong, 34, and Wang Haoje, 34.
Wang is also China’s first female spaceflight engineer. Song Lingdong and Wang Haoje are also the country’s youngest astronauts. The astronauts will use a Chinese-built space station as their home base for six months, where they will conduct various experiments and spacewalks.
Beijing aims to use the experience and intelligence from the mission to later send humans to the moon by 2030. Beijing has declared the launch of Shenzhou 19 a “major success.” It is one of 100 launches planned by China this year for space exploration, where the country aims to set a new record and surpass its rival, the United States.
The BBC reported that its correspondent had the opportunity to witness the launch of the spacecraft from just one kilometer away. In view of this, they got a rare opportunity to enter the ‘Juiquan Satellite Launch Center’ located in China’s Gansu Province.
More than a thousand people were seen standing on the streets to watch the launch and cheering the ‘Taikonauts’ (Chinese word for astronaut) slogans. The astronaut team of the ‘Shenzhou 19’ mission has joined three other astronauts who came to the space station on the Shenzhou 18 mission at the Tiangong Space Station. And they will return to Earth on November 4 for their return journey.
China has already planned various research on the moon. China’s goal is to utilize the resources of this region. The moon contains helium, metals and other valuable minerals that could lead to big economic gains in the future.