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Home , Liu Boming (astronaut), Nie Haisheng, Tiangong space station

BBC LEARNING ENGLISH English in the News Astronauts occupy China’s new space station

The story China has launched three astronauts into orbit to begin occupation of the country's new space station. The three men - Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo - are to spend three months aboard the Tianhe module, which will form part of the Tiangong space station, about 380km above the Earth.

Useful vocabulary astronauts – people who travel and work in space orbit - the circular path one object takes around another in space module – a part of something that joins to other parts to make a structure ambitions – strong desires to achieve something rover – small vehicle used for moving around the surface of a planet excluded – not allowed to be part of collaboration – act of working together retired – no longer working or in service mission – journey (into space) to do something domain – area of interest docked – arrived at / joined something objective – aim core component – main part outpost – remote place or building cosmos – the whole Universe

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More about the story…

What has been happening? The BBC’s Science Correspondent Jonathan Amos says that in recent years, China has made no secret of its space ambitions. It has invested lots of money to try to do this. In 2019, it became the first country to send an un-crewed rover to the far side of the Moon. It is developing its own space station partly because it has been excluded from the International Space Station project. The ISS is the only current space station in orbit and is a collaboration between Russia, the US, Canada, Europe and Japan. But the ISS is due to be retired after 2024, which could potentially leave China’s Tiangong space station as the only one in Earth's orbit.

This latest launch and mission show China's growing confidence and capability in the space domain. This will be China's longest crewed space mission to date and the first in nearly five years.

What has happened on this space mission so far? The Shenzhou-12 space capsule attached to its Long March 2F rocket, lifted off from the Jiuquan satellite launch centre in the Gobi Desert at 09:22 Beijing time on Thursday. The crew successfully docked with the space station just over seven hours after the launch.

What will the crew do in space? The primary objective for Commander Nie Haisheng and his team on the Shenzhou-12 mission is to bring the 22.5-tonne Tianhe module into service. Mr Nie said earlier: "We need to set up our new home in space and test a series of new technologies. So, the mission is tough and challenging. I believe with the three of us working closely together, doing thorough and accurate operations, we can overcome our challenges. We have the confidence to complete the mission."

What will happen next? This 16.6m-long, 4.2m-wide Tianhe cylinder was launched in April. It is the first and core component in what will eventually be an orbiting outpost, comprising of living quarters, science labs and even a Hubble-class telescope to view the cosmos. China hopes to have the new station fully working by 2022.

Find out more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57504052 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-56924370

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Questions

1. What is China’s new space station called?

2. Why might China’s new space station become more significant after 2024?

3. How long did it take the Shenzhou-12 space capsule to arrive at the space station?

4. True or false? China was the first country to send astronauts in a rover to the far side of the moon.

5. What facilities will this new space station have?

Answers

1. What is China’s new space station called? It is called the Tiangong space station.

2. Why might China’s new space station become more significant after 2024? The ISS is due to be retired after 2024, which could potentially leave China’s Tiangong space station as the only one in Earth's orbit.

3. How long did this latest mission into space take? It took just over seven hours.

4. True or false? China was the first country to send astronauts in a rover to the far side of the moon. False. In 2019 it became the first country to send an un-crewed rover to the far side of the Moon.

5. What facilities will this new space station have? It will include living quarters, science labs and even a Hubble-class telescope.