Another step validated by China in its conquest of space: it succeeded on Friday in bringing its new spacecraft back to Earth, a success which allows it to begin the next construction of a space station. The re-entry module on Earth "landed successfully" at 1:49 pm local time in northern China after two days and 19 hours in orbit, said the space agency in charge of manned flights (CMS).
A photo showing the fall of the object, cushioned by three red and white parachutes, was published by the official media. Main purpose of this new spacecraft: to transport astronauts to the future space station and to carry out manned flights far in space. "This mission is a resounding success," said Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in the United States.
A future space station in 2022
"In the long run, this gives China the potential to send astronauts to deep space - maybe someday to the Moon. But it will not be in the near future ”. The spacecraft had been launched Tuesday, without crew on board, using a Long March 5B rocket, the most powerful ever used by China and which will allow in particular to transport the elements of the future space station. Its construction should start this year and be completed in 2022.
Named Tiangong ("Celestial Palace"), it will consist of three parts: a main module almost 17 meters long (place of life and work) and two additional modules (for scientific experiments). It should look like the former Russian Mir station. Beijing has launched since the 1990s several “Shenzhou” spaceships, built on the model of the famous Russian “Soyuz”.
Deemed safer, the new spacecraft returned to Earth on Friday is faster, more heat resistant, can carry more astronauts (up to six instead of three) and is partially reusable. These characteristics open up new horizons for the Chinese manned space program. The spacecraft is thus supposed to be able to carry out more distant missions in space, journeys which require higher speed and better protection against extreme temperatures.
Robot on Mars
According to Andrew Jones, a Chinese space program specialist for the SpaceNews website, this mission clearly testifies to Beijing's ambitions. "The successful return of the spacecraft from a high orbit shows that China is serious about sending astronauts beyond the low Earth orbit", the area up to 1,500 or 2,000 km away altitude where space stations are located. "Only NASA has achieved this so far," said Andrew Jones.
"China now has similar capabilities in terms of human spaceflight as the Russians and the Americans," said Chen Lan, an analyst for the specialized website Go-Taikonauts.com. Even if the United States remains "the number one power in space," he notes. The return of the new spacecraft comes after the failure on Wednesday of that of an experimental cargo capsule, launched by the same Long March 5B rocket and victim of an "anomaly", according to the CMS agency.
China is investing billions in its space program. It places many satellites in orbit, on its own account or for other countries. In early 2019, it became the first nation in the world to land a probe on the far side of the Moon. The Asian giant also plans to launch a probe to Mars during 2020. The objective is to land the spacecraft on the red planet and to develop a small remote-controlled robot there. She also hopes to send a manned mission to the Moon within ten years.
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