The liftoff of three astronauts for China’s new space station on Thursday marks a landmark step in its space ambitions, its longest crewed mission to date. The world’s second largest economy has put billions into its military-run space programme, with hopes of having a permanently crewed space station by 2022 and eventually sending humans to […]
Space
China set to launch first crew to new space station
The first astronauts for China’s new space station are set to blast off Thursday for the country’s longest crewed mission to date, a landmark step in establishing Beijing as a major space power. The trio will launch on a Long March-2F rocket for the Tiangong station, where they will spend three months. Liftoff is expected […]
Mice can reproduce after space stints, study finds
TOKYO: Male mice that spent more than a month in space were able to successfully reproduce back on Earth, a study has found, the first evidence of how space travel affects reproduction in mammals. There have been some signs that spending time in space could negatively affect sperm, including radiation damage seen in freeze-dried mouse […]
First to red planet will become Martians: Canada astronaut
Astronauts traveling through space on the long trip to Mars will not have the usual backup from mission control on Earth and will need to think of themselves as Martians to survive, Canada’s most famous spaceman half-jokingly said Friday. Current predictions are that humans will reach Mars — up to 400 million kilometers (250 million […]