Shenzhou 9 flew into space, 11 years ago today Shenzhou | astronauts | Shenzhou 9 | today
Today is June 16th, exactly 11 years after the launch of Shenzhou-9. Shenzhou-9 is the second space trip of astronaut Jing Haipeng, and also his first time serving as commander. Together with Liu Wang and Liu Yang, he has created multiple firsts, including the first manual rendezvous and docking, and the first Chinese female astronaut's "flying" into space. Let's review them together.
On June 16, 2012, the Long March 2F Yao 9 carrier rocket took off, and three astronauts, Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang, and Liu Yang, flew into space aboard the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft. On June 18th, the Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft and the Tiangong-1 target spacecraft achieved automatic rendezvous and docking. As the commander of the crew, astronaut Jing Haipeng opened the experimental cabin door of the Tiangong-1 target spacecraft and entered it in a floating attitude. This was his second space trip.
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Astronaut Jing Haipeng: I waited for four years for my second dream of flying, and I felt very happy because I felt like I was the first astronaut to go to heaven twice. The first astronaut to enter Tiangong-1 not only achieved my second dream of flying, but also helped my two comrades Liu Wang and Liu Yang achieve their dreams. I feel very happy.
In this approximately 15 cubic meters of activity space, the crew of Shenzhou-9 astronauts stayed in orbit for 13 days. During this period, items were transferred between Tiangong-1 and Shenzhou spacecraft, and related space science and technology experiments such as manned environment maintenance operations, in orbit aerospace medical experiments, and replacement and maintenance experiments were carried out. On June 24, 2012, Tiangong-1 and Shenzhou-9 carried out separation operations. The Shenzhou-9 spacecraft arrived at a 140 meter mooring point. At 12:42, Shenzhou-9 switched from automatic control to manual control. With the cooperation of Jing Haipeng and Liu Yang, Liu Wang manually controlled the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft, which weighed over 8 tons and was 9 meters long, and successfully completed its first manual rendezvous and docking with a Chinese precision of "100 meter needle penetration".
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On June 29, 2012, the return capsule of Shenzhou-9 spacecraft landed smoothly on the grassland of Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia, and three astronauts left the spacecraft healthy. The successful flight of Shenzhou-9 laid the foundation for the implementation of subsequent manned space missions.