A Chinese spacecraft carrying a three-person crew docked with the country’s homegrown Tiangong orbiting space station on Oct. 30. The crew will carry out various experiments, some tied to building human habitats in space, during the next six months at the space station.
One of the experiments involves exposing bricks made from simulated lunar soil to conditions in space. It will assess the utility of the bricks in constructing a permanent lunar research station, which China hopes to complete by 2035. If the tests prove successful, the bricks would be more convenient than transporting materials from Earth. The bricks for the experiment will be sent to the Moon in an uncrewed cargo spaceflight in November.
Other experiments involve the fields of space life sciences, microgravity physics, materials, medicine, and new technologies.
China’s space program has developed rapidly. China completed and began operating its space station, known as Tiangong, in November 2022. Since then, Shenzhou crewed spaceflights have only increased in frequency. This fast development has alarmed the U.S., which has faced problems with its crewed spaceflights in recent years.
Two NASA astronauts recently ended up stranded at the International Space Station due to unforeseen technological issues. China’s space agency has continuously optimized its emergency response plan so astronauts would have more time to deal with emergency scenarios and avoid similar problems.
China’s next goal is to land a human on the Moon by 2030. They have succeeded with uncrewed lunar missions but not with a crewed mission.