Tiangong space station
2021 MAY 1
Preliminary >
Science and Technology > Space technology > Basics of space technology
Why in news?
- China launches first Tiangong space station module.
About the space station:
- The Tiangong Space Station or Chinese large modular space station is a planned space station to be placed in low Earth orbit between 340–450 km above the surface.
- The Tiangong Space Station will be roughly one-fifth the mass of the International Space Station and about the size of the decommissioned Russian Mir space station.
- Operations will be controlled from the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center in China.
- The core module, the Tianhe ("Harmony of the Heavens") was launched on 29 April 2021.
- This will be followed by two Laboratory Cabin Modules 'Wentian' & 'Mengtian' respectively, will provide additional navigation avionics, propulsion and orientation control as backup functions for the CCM.
- It is designed to accommodate three astronauts and is designed to be used for 10 years, although the mission could be extended.
Prelims Question
”Tiangong”, a name recently in news is :
(a)A proposed space station
(b)A Large Radio Telescope
(c)A newly discovered asteroid
(d)None of the above
Answer to Prelims question