The Tiangong space station is now ready to become the starting point for the Chinese space race. And their first objective is to take them to the Moon. But before that happens, Chinese astronauts aboard the Tiangong space station have given us a rare glimpse of What life is like at about 420 kilometers high.
As seen in a nearly seven-minute video shared by Chinese state news agency CCTV, members of the current Shenzhou-18 crew They gave an extensive tour of their new home.
Crew members show off the station’s kitchen, from a small heater that dispenses water into small bags to a modified microwave. The astronauts also showed the surprisingly spacious beds featuring a sizable portholewith views of the Earth below.
It is also possible to see the two segments of the orbital laboratory, including several cherry tomato and lettuce plants that they grow in the station greenhouse.
In short, it’s a rare and surprisingly detailed look behind the curtain of an otherwise secretive space program that has historically kept its cards close to its chest. In less than two years, China has assembled three modules of its space station, which can accommodate a crew of up to three astronauts.
Although the United States excluded the country from participating aboard the International Space Station, its space program has made enormous progress in a matter of years and hopes send astronauts to the surface of the Moon as early as 2030.
In April, the country sent its last crew to the orbital laboratory. Current members are preparing to returning to Earth after spending almost half a year on board of the station.
During their stay, they have observed How zebrafish adapt to their unusual microgravity environmentamong other scientific experiments.
Meanwhile, NASA is preparing to deorbit the International Space Station at the end of the decade, and the station’s successor still is largely stuck in the early planning stages.