Astronauts involved in the China Space Station successfully complete their first 24 hours in space.
The astronauts operating on China’s new space station were recorded taking afternoon naps in space as part of their daily routine. The three men – Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming, and Tang Hongbo – were also seen eating as boxes floated about them in a new video published on Wednesday.
The video shows their first 24 hours on the Tianhe module, where they will spend the next three months.
It will be China’s first crewed space trip in almost five years, and it will also be the country’s longest.
First vlog released showing taikonauts cabin life in China's space stationhttps://t.co/lENoc5pTN1 pic.twitter.com/E8fobAUdfE
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) June 23, 2021
According to news footage carried on China’s official broadcaster Central China Television, the astronauts begin the day by speaking with ground control at 8:00 a.m. and do not complete work until about 21:00 p.m., when they provide a report on their progress.
The guys will be given a day off once a week to preserve “good spirits,” according to the broadcaster.
In a five-minute conversation with the astronauts on Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated them for their efforts.
According to the South China Morning Post, he added “You will spend three months in space and, while in space, your work and your life there will be in the hearts of the Chinese public,” he said, according to a report by the South China Morning Post.
Commander Nie and his team’s main goal on this mission is to put the 22.5-tonne Tianhe module into operation.
It is just another example of China’s increasing confidence and competence in space.
In the last six months, the nation has returned rock and soil samples from the Moon’s surface to Earth and landed a six-wheeled rover on Mars, both very complicated and difficult missions.
It has invested heavily in space exploration, becoming the first nation to send an unmanned rover to the far side of the Moon in 2019.
