China
has successfully launched longest-ever manned mission
by taking two astronauts Jing Haipeng (50) and Chen Dong (37) into the orbit. They were
launched on board of Shenzhou-11 (heavenly vessel)
spacecraft from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch
Centre near the Gobi Desert in northwest China.
The
spacecraft was put into orbit by a Long March-2F carrier rocket.
Both
astronauts will spend a month aboard an experimental
space laboratory Tiangong-2 (Heavenly Palace 2).
During
the mission, they will conduct aerospace medical
experiments, space science experiments and in-orbit maintenance with human
participation.
They
will also undertake ultrasound tests during space travel for the first time,
cultivate plants in space etc. It will be first time that Chinese astronauts
will stay in orbit for medium term.
Earlier
in 2013, three Chinese astronauts in a manned space mission had spent 15 days
in orbit and were docked with a space laboratory Tiangong 1.
Tiangong-2 was launched in September 2016 as part of China’s efforts to set up its own permanent manned space station by 2022. By launching longest-ever manned space mission,
China
has moved a step closer to establish its permanent space station. After
completion, it will make China, only the country to have space station facility
is space as the current in-service International Space Station (ISS) retires by
2024.