CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -China launched its first space laboratory, Tiangong-1, on 29 September 2011. Following Tiangong-1, a more advanced space laboratory complete with cargo spacecraft, dubbed Tiangong-2, was launched on 15 September 2016.

Detailed explanation-2: -Tiangong, (Chinese: “Heavenly Palace”) any of a series of three Chinese space stations, the first of which was launched on September 29, 2011. The first two Tiangongs were each an 8, 500-kg (18, 700-pound) cylinder that was 3.4 metres (11.2 feet) in diameter.

Detailed explanation-3: -It is China’s first long-term space station, part of the Tiangong program and the core of the “Third Step” of the China Manned Space Program (CMS); it has a pressurised volume of 320 m3 (11, 300 cu ft), slightly over one third the size of the International Space Station.

Detailed explanation-4: -With this successful mission, China has become just the third nation to operate a permanent space station. China’s space station is an achievement that solidifies the country’s position alongside the U.S. and Russia as one of the world’s top three space powers.