China manually connects space capsule to laboratory module

Chinese astronauts have managed to manually dock the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft to the Tiangong-1 module. With this, Chinese space travel is taking an important step towards building its own space station.

The Shenzhou-9, or ‘divine vessel’, already managed to make an automatic connection with the laboratory module Tiangong-1, which can be translated as ‘heavenly palace’ last week. This procedure was controlled from the command center. The second step, a manual link between the two spacecraft, has now also been successful, Chinese state media reported.

China states that the manual coupling is one of the most important parts of the mission with the Shenzhou-9, because the maneuver is known to be very complex: the two spacecraft fly side by side at 7.8 kilometers per second and the coupling must be very complex. performed carefully to avoid damage. The Chinese astronauts, also known as ‘taikonauts’, had already practiced the manual clutch 1500 times in a simulator before the mission.

Mastering the rendezvous technique, which the Americans and Russians had already mastered in the 1960s, is essential to realize China’s space ambitions for building its own space station. China plans to start building the space station in 2016. This should be operational in 2020.