China successfully launched space lab the Tiangong-2 Thursday night from the Jiuquan satellite launch center in northwest China. Tiangong-2 will link with Shenzhou-11 manned spaceship, which will be launched later in October. Also piggybacking on the Tiangong-2 launch is a micro satellite that will orbit close to the space lab --its purpose has not been reported. The mission is part of China's ambitious space program to build a permanent manned space station around year 2022.

With the sound of rolling thunder on the vast Gobi dessert, Tiangong-2 space lab blasted off into space propelled by its Long March 2F carrier rocket, shortly after 10pm on Thursday. In just 585 seconds, Tiangong-2 was placed in an orbit about 393 kilometers above the Earth.

The Shenzhou-11 spaceship will ferry two astronauts to dock with the lab and stay in space for 30 days to conduct a range of scientific experiments covering areas such as fundamental physics, biology, fluid mechanics in micro gravity and aerospace medicine. More than 40 space science and application experiments will be conducted aboard Tiangong-2.

Once inside Tiangong-2, the two astronauts will carry out key experiments related to aerospace medicine, space physics and biology as well as on-orbit equipment repairs in areas such as quantum key transmission, space atomic clock and solar storm research.

"The number of experiments carried by Tiangong-2 is the highest so far of all manned space missions," said Wu Ping, deputy director of the manned space engineering office. Its payload includes POLAR, a collaboration between Swiss, Polish and Chinese institutions to study gamma ray bursts. The space cold atomic clock, which scientists say only loses one second about every 30 million years, is expected to make future mobile navigation more accurate.

Many experiments are at the very forefront of space science exploration, and one of them is the world's first in-space cold atomic clock, used to improve time measurements to the equivalent of one second every 30 million years, and will also result in improvements in navigation accuracy.

Lv Congmoin, Deputy director at the technology and engineering center for space utilization, Chinese academy of sciences, says "The synchronization of the navigation system on our mobile phone runs via the internet. But the function of time correction systems all depends on numerous atomic clocks on the ground. If we can maintain the smooth running of the cold atomic clock in space, time synchronization between the earth and space can finally be achieved, thus improving navigation accuracy. "

The new space lab, designed with two modules, offers a larger payload capacity, better living quarters, and new communication technologies on board.

As a major breakthrough in the "three step strategy" proposed by Chinese scientists toward the goal of building a permanent manned space station, the Tiangong2 is expected to further boost the development of China's space exploration.

"Tiangong 2 is the first space vehicle in the second phase of the second step of the strategy," says Chief designer of the Tiangong-2 space lab Zhu Zongpeng. "It's going to dock with Shenzhou-11 this year, and with a cargo vessel next year. Once it has completed missions of long term space stays, facility maintenance, refueling, and space experiments, it will be the end of the phase. If we cannot carry out the mission well, it's going to affect the building of the space station directly. So Tiangong-2 has great significance in the process. "

The manned space engineering office said in March that the orbit of Tiangong-1 will descend gradually over several months until the orbiter eventually burns up in the atmosphere.

The Daily Galaxy via cri.cn and xinhuanet.com

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China will launch its Tiangong-2 space lab from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on a Long March-2F T2 rocket in northwestern China's Gobi desert at 10:04 p.m. Thursday as part of an increasingly ambitious space program that aims for a manned space station by around 2022.

In 2011, U.S. Congress ruled that China is not allowed on the International Space Station because of "national security" concerns. Undeterred, the People's Republic decided to build its own.

"All systems are ready for lift-off," said Wu Ping, deputy director of the manned space engineering office, on Wednesday afternoon. "The launch of Tiangong-2 will lay a solid foundation for the building and operation of a permanent space station in the future," she said.

She said China's manned space program has now entered a "new phase of application and development."

Once in space, the 8.6-tonne Tiangong-2 will maneuver itself into an orbit about 380 kilometers above Earth for initial on-orbit tests.

It will transfer to a slightly higher orbit about 393 kilometers above Earth, a height at which the future Chinese space station will operate, before the Shenzhou-11 manned spaceship ferries two male astronauts into space to dock with the lab in mid-to-late October.

The two astronauts will work in Tiangong-2 for 30 days before reentering Earth's atmosphere.

In April 2017, China's first cargo ship, Tianzhou-1, will also be sent into orbit to dock with Tiangong-2 and provide it with fuel and other supplies.

Wu said experts will verify and evaluate key technologies involved in on-orbit propellant resupply and equipment repairs as well as that related to long-term stays in space by astronauts.

They will also use the lab, which is designed to operate for at least two years, to conduct space science experiments on a relatively large scale compared to China's previous efforts.

Measuring 10.4 meters in length and 3.35 meters in maximum diameter, Tiangong-2 is much like its predecessor Tiangong-1, which was launched in 2011, but its living quarters and life support facilities have been improved to allow for longer stays by astronauts.

Originally built as a backup for Tiangong-1, it can enable two astronauts to live in space for up to 30 days and is capable of receiving manned and cargo spaceships.

Once inside Tiangong-2, the two astronauts will carry out key experiments related to aerospace medicine, space physics and biology as well as on-orbit equipment repairs in areas such as quantum key transmission, space atomic clock and solar storm research.

More than 40 space science and application experiments will be conducted aboard Tiangong-2.

"The number of experiments carried by Tiangong-2 is the highest so far of all manned space missions," Wu said. Its payload includes POLAR, a collaboration between Swiss, Polish and Chinese institutions to study gamma ray bursts. The space cold atomic clock, which scientists say only loses one second about every 30 million years, is expected to make future mobile navigation more accurate.

Also piggybacking on the Tiangong-2 launch will be a micro satellite that will orbit close to the space lab.

Wu said China will share the fruits of its development in its manned space program with all countries, especially developing countries.

Earlier reports said Tiangong-2 will also carry three experiments designed by the winners of a Hong Kong middle school design contest.

Its predecessor, Tiangong-1, which docked with Shenzhou-8, Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 spacecraft and undertook a series of experiments, was mainly tasked with verifying technology involved in space docking and serving as a platform for a limited number of scientific experiments, Wu said. Tiangong-1 ended its data service earlier this year.

According to Wu, Tiangong-1 is running at an orbit about 370 kilometers above Earth and descending 100 meters every day. It is expected to burn up in Earth's atmosphere in the latter half of 2017.

The Daily Galaxy via http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-09/14/c_135688000.htm

Image credits: China National Space Administration

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