Scientific American is the essential guide to the most awe-inspiring advances in science and technology, explaining how they change our understanding of the world and shape our lives. The nation’s first crewed liftoff in nearly five years is the third of 11 planned launches to complete the station’s construction
China’s new space station is about to get its first human visitors. The Shenzhou 12 mission launched Wednesday (June 16) from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, rising off the pad atop a Long March 2F rocket at 9:22 p.m. EDT (0122 GMT and 9:22 a.m. Beijing time on June 17). Shenzhou 12 — China’s first crewed spaceflight in nearly five years — is sending three astronauts to Tianhe («Harmony of the Heavens»), the core module of the nation’s new Tiangong space station. If all goes according to plan, the trio will spend three months aboard the 54-foot-long (16.6 meters) Tianhe, performing a variety of tests and maintenance activities. «We are honored to take the lead in a series of manned missions for the space station construction, and we have many expectations,» Shenzhou 12 commander Nie Haisheng said during a press conference at Jiuquan on Tuesday, June 15 (June 16 Beijing time), according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency. «We will not only make the core module a ‘space home’ but also carry out a series of key technology verifications,» Nie said. «There will be more arduous tasks and more challenges.» Nie had already made two trips to Earth orbit before today’s launch, flying on the Shenzhou 6 mission in 2005 and commanding Shenzhou 10 in 2013. Joining him on Shenzhou 12 are two other men: Liu Boming, a veteran of Shenzhou 7 in 2008, and Tang Hongbo, who’s a rookie spaceflyer. Shenzhou 12’s launch is the third of 11 that will be required to build China’s new space station, which the nation expects to complete by the end of 2022.
