User:AstRoBot/Sandbox/Tiangong 1
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Tiangong-1 (Chinese: 天宫一号; pinyin: Tiāngōng yīhào; lit. 'Heavenly Palace 1') is China's first space station,[6] serving as both a manned laboratory and an experimental testbed to demonstrate orbital rendezvous and docking capabilities.[7] Launched unmanned aboard a Long March 2F/G rocket[1] on 29 September 2011,[8] it is the first operational component of the Tiangong program, which aims to place a larger, modular station into orbit by 2020.[7] As of September 2011[update], Tiangong-1 was projected to be deorbited in 2013,[9] and replaced over the following decade by the larger Tiangong-2 and Tiangong-3 modules.[10]
![]() Plan diagram of Tiangong-1 with its solar panels extended | |
Station statistics | |
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Crew | 3 |
Launch | 29 September 2011[1][2] at 21:16:03.507 CST |
Launch pad | Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-1 |
Mass | 8,506 kg (18,753 lb)[3] |
Length | 10.4 m (34.1 ft) |
Diameter | 3.35 m (11.0 ft) |
Pressurised volume | 15 m3 (530 cu ft)[4] |
Periapsis altitude | 353 kilometres (219 mi)[5] |
Apoapsis altitude | 364 kilometres (226 mi)[5] |
Orbital inclination | 42.78 degrees[5] |
Orbital period | 91.72 minutes[5] |
Orbits per day | 15.70[5] |
Orbit epoch | 22 September 2013[5] |
Days in orbit | 4662 (as of 4 July) |
No. of orbits | 11,390[5] |
Tiangong1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 天宮一號 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 天宫一号 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | Heavenly Palace-1 or Sky Palace-1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Tiangong-1 was visited by a series of Shenzhou spacecraft during its two-year operational lifetime. The first of these, the unmanned Shenzhou 8, successfully docked with the module in November 2011,[11][12] while the manned Shenzhou 9 mission docked in June 2012.[13][14][15] A third and final mission to Tiangong-1, the manned Shenzhou 10, docked in June 2013.[16][17][18] The manned missions to Tiangong-1 were notable for including China's first female astronauts, Liu Yang and Wang Yaping.[19][17]