The taikonauts (Chinese astronauts) of the Shenzhou-18 mission have shown rare footage of their stay at the Tiangong space station 420 kilometers above Earth. In a nearly seven-minute video published by CCTV, they gave a tour of their orbital station, demonstrating everyday life and scientific experiments.
The taikonauts showed their kitchen, where they use a small heater to make hot drinks in packets and a microwave oven for meals. The station’s bedrooms appeared to be quite spacious, each bed equipped with a large window with a spectacular view of Earth.
A special highlight is the station’s greenhouse, where taikonauts grow cherry tomatoes and lettuce as part of an experiment in growing plants in space. Overall, this video tour offered an unexpectedly detailed glimpse into the inner life of China’s space program, which usually remains hidden.
China has made great progress in the space industry in a short time. In less than two years, three modules of the Tiangong station have been assembled, where three taikonauts can work comfortably. Due to US restrictions, China is not participating in the International Space Station (ISS) program, but is actively developing its own projects. There are plans for a mission to land the first Chinese astronauts on the Moon by 2030.
In April, the last crew headed to Tiangong, spending about six months on board. During this time, the taikonauts observed the effects of microgravity on living organisms and conducted other scientific research.
Meanwhile, NASA is preparing to end ISS operations by the late 2030s, but so far the new station is only in the early stages of development.
Earlier we reported on how China published a photo of its orbital station.
Provided by techeblog.com