CCTV
Shenzhou-9 docks at Tiangong-1... At 2:07 PM, Beijing time today, the Shenzhou-9 vehicle carrying three taikonauts finally arrived at the Tiangong-1 space module...starting a day's worth of events that led to Tiangong-1 becoming China's first manned space station in low-Earth orbit. Liu Wang, Liu Yang and Jing Haipeng will spend at least 10 days at the station—conducting various lab experiments and testing docking maneuvers utilizing Shenzhou-9 before departing from Tiangong-1 and returning to Earth on June 29. Liu Yang, a pilot for the Chinese Air Force, has already made history by becoming the first female taikonaut to fly into space.
The docking mechanism that allowed Shenzhou-9 to berth with Tiangong-1 is essentially the same type used on the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS). A few modifications to the mechanism could allow Tiangong-1 to dock with the ISS if China was someday permitted to join the multinational program. However, the U.S. Congress has a law in place that prevents NASA from cooperating with the Asian superpower in every way. This is despite the fact China may have a bigger space station in orbit by the time the ISS is retired in 2020...assuming no new funding is provided to extend the life of the 13-year-old orbital outpost well into the next decade.
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