China launches longest manned space mission

China has launched its longest manned space mission sending two astronauts into orbit to spend a month aboard a space laboratory. The mission is part of a broader plan to have a permanent manned space station in service around 2022.The Shenzhou 11 blasted off on a Long March rocket at 7.30am (11.30pm GMT) on 16 October. The astronauts will dock with the Tiangong 2 space laboratory, which was sent into space last month. Chinas Jade Rabbit moon rover landed on the moon in late 2013 to great national fanfare, but soon suffered severe technical difficulties. The rover and the Change 3 probe that carried it there were the first soft landing on the moon since 1976. Both the US and the Soviet Union had accomplished the feat earlier. Shenzhou 11, will also carry three experiments designed by Hong Kong middle school students selected in a science competition, including one that will take silk worms into space.

China launched a manned spacecraft, Shenzhou-11, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest Chinas Gobi desert on Monday, 17 October. The move is seen as the countrys growing efforts to make a mark among the leading global players in space technology.

President Xi Jinping, who was in Goa in India attending the Brics summit with leaders from Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, conveyed his wishes on the successful launch of the spacecraft through a message.

The spacecraft, mounted on the back of a Long March-2F carrier rocket, blasted off from the launch centre early in the morning. The spacecraft carrying two male astronauts is set to dock with Chinas second experimental space lab Tiangong-2 launched in mid-September, Chinas official Xinhua news agency reported. The spacecraft was reported to have entered its designated orbit following the launch.

Xi congratulated all researchers and staff engaged in the mission and the two astronauts. He reportedly said in his message from Goa that this mission will mark the first occasion when Chinese astronauts will stay in orbit for almost a month. He also said that through this mission, Chinas manned space programme has achieved new and significant progress.

The president urged the people involved in the mission to constantly break new ground for the manned space programme, so that Chinese people will take bigger steps and march further in space probe, to make new contribution to the building of China into a space power, Xinhua reported.

Alexander Zheleznyakov, a Russian expert on the history of space flights, applauded the Chinese space programmes, particularly the lunar exploration programme, calling them impressive and admirable.

The news agency quoted him as saying that qualities of the Tiangong-2 space lab indicate the way how China would build its planned space station, which is similar to that of the International Space Station, by gradually docking other space modules with the basic cabin.

The Russian expert added that manned space missions can help push the development of other industries, especially high-tech ones, as space projects involve new materials, advanced application programs and innovative technical solutions, including cutting-edge results in many areas, Xinhua reported.