Three Chinese astronauts are on a 15-day mission and inhabiting the Tiangong 1 space station. China’s second female astronaut, Wang Yaping, is giving lectures to middle and elementary school students while in orbit. Nie Haisheng is the mission’s commander. Born in 1964, he flew on Shenzhou 6 in 2005. Wang Yaping is China’s second female astronaut. She was born in 1980. Zhang Xiaoguang is the mission’s pilot, responsible for conducting the rendezvous and docking with the Tiangong station. He was born in 1966.
The Shenzhou 10 spacecraft consists of three main modules. The Re-entry module houses the three astronauts for launch and landing.
The Orbital module on the nose of the spacecraft can be left in space to operate automatically after the astronauts return to Earth.
In the rear of Shenzhou is the Service module, containing fuel and the main rocket engines.
The Tiangong 1 station orbits at an altitude of 221 to 225 miles (356 to 362 kilometers) and an inclination to Earth’s equator of 42 degrees.
Shenzhou 10 launches on a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan satellite launch center in the Gobi Desert on June 11, 2013, at 5:38 p.m., Beijing time (5:38 a.m. EDT, 0938 GMT).
- Liftoff! Launch Photos of China’s Shenzhou 9 Docking Mission
- Shenzhou 9 Explained: China’s 1st Female Astronaut Heads to Space Lab (Infographic)
- Gallery: Tiangong 1, China’s First Space Laboratory
Source SPACE.com: All about our solar system, outer space and exploration
