China s first cargo spacecraft docks with orbiting lab

Beijing April 22 (IANS) China s first spacecraft the Tianzhou-1 docked successfully with the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab on Saturday according to Beijing Aerospace Control Centre.

Tianzhou-1 which was launched on Thursday evening from Wenchang Space Launch Centre in Hainan province began to approach Tiangong-2 automatically at 10.02 a.m. and made contact with at 12.16 p.m. the People s Daily reported.

The Tianzhou-1 cargo ship and Tiangong-2 space lab will have another two dockings.

The second docking will be conducted from a different direction which aims to test the ability of the cargo ship to dock with a future space station from different directions.

In the third docking Tianzhou-1 will use fast-docking technology.

It normally takes about two days to dock while fast docking will take only six hours.

Refuelling will also be conducted a process with 29 steps that takes several days.

Tiangong-2 which went into space on September 15 2016 is China s first space lab in the strict sense and a key step in building a permanent space station by 2022.

Cargo ships play a crucial role maintaining a space station and carrying supplies and fuel into orbit.

--IANS
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