Tiangong 2 mission "EMPOWER IAS"

In news:

• Tiangong-2 was a manned Chinese space station that was destroyed upon its controlled re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean on July 19.
• Tiangong-2 was retired from service after it had completed its experiments in space.

 

Tiangong-2

• Tiangong means “Heavenly Palace”. It was 10.4 metres long and 3.35 metres wide at its widest point, and weighed 8.6 metric tonnes.
• It was launched on September 15, 2016 and, in late 2016, hosted two Chinese astronauts for 30 days in what was China’s longest manned space mission so far.
• The recently decommissioned space lab followed the Tiangong-1, China’s first space station, which crashed into the southern Pacific Ocean on April 1, 2018 after Chinese scientists lost control of the spacecraft.
• China had launched Tiangong-1 in 2011 as proof-of-concept of technologies for future stations. The lab was visited by two teams of Chinese astronauts for 11 days and 13 days respectively.

 

Features of Tiangong-2

• Tiangong-2 which weighed 8.6 metric tones was 10.4 metres long and 3.35 metres wide at its widest point.
• Launched on September 15, 2016, Tiangong-2 hosted two Chinese astronauts for 30 days. This was China’s longest manned space mission till date.
• Tiangong-2 was commissioned after Tiangong-1, China’s first space station crashed into the southern Pacific Ocean on April 1, 2018.
• Tiangong-2 was destroyed upon its controlled re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean on July 19.
• Most of Tiangong-2 burnt up in the atmosphere, and the remaining debris fell near Point Nemo.
• Tianhe which is china’s space station is expected to be ready to be able to host three astronauts for long durations, around 2022.