China's Shenzhou-12 manned spacecraft with three taikonauts aboard blasted off from northwest China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center Thursday morning, marking another major milestone in the country's space exploration endeavor.

It has been almost five years since China sent its taikonauts into space last time. During the current mission, the Chinese astronauts, the first visitors to the space station core module Tianhe, will spend three months conducting multiple tasks in and out of the cabin.

The vast space is a common wealth for the human race. The Chinese people share with people worldwide both the dream and the right to explore the mysterious universe. China's purpose of space exploration has all along been the peaceful use of what many call the final frontier of humanity. Beijing has never intended to join a zero-sum space race or compete for global space leadership.

From the moon to Mars, from unmanned planet roaming to manned space missions, China goes into the deep space with an open mind as well as steadfast readiness to cooperate with others and to share its achievements.

One tangible proof is that China and the United Nations released in 2019 the first nine international cooperation projects for China's then planned space station. They involve 23 entities from 17 countries in the fields of aerospace medicine, space life sciences and biotechnology, microgravity physics and combustion science, astronomy and other emerging technologies.

In contrast, U.S. lawmakers have set a legal bar for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to cooperate with China. Their narrow-mindedness and selfishness have failed to undermine both the ambition and progress of China's space program.

Shenzhou-12, China's seventh manned space mission so far, is also a comprehensive test of the country's cutting-edge technologies and innovation capabilities.

Thursday's successful launch comes just weeks ahead of the centennial of the Communist Party of China, an occasion reminiscent of the fact that while international cooperation has been a key booster for China's space quest, the spirit of self-reliance and the country's growing overall national strength over the decades have been fundamental for the development of its space enterprise.

The beautiful Chinese names of Shenzhou and Tianhe, which literally mean "the divine vessel" and "harmony of the heavens," crystallize Chinese people's infinite longing for the distant stars and unknown space.

As China is building the new space station as an outpost for humanity's future exploration of the unknown universe, it intends to turn the outer space into a new field for cooperation instead of another battleground for you-win-I-lose competition.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

Related Links
China National Space Agency
The Chinese Space Program - News, Policy and Technology
China News from SinoDaily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Rocket blasts off carrying first Chinese crew to new space station
Jiuquan, China (AFP) June 17, 2021
The first astronauts for China's new space station blasted off Thursday for the country's longest crewed mission to date, a landmark step in establishing Beijing as a major space power. The trio launched on a Long March-2F rocket for the Tiangong station, where they will spend three months, in a much-anticipated blast-off broadcast live on state TV. Lift-off happened at 9:22 am (0122 GMT) from the Jiuquan launch centre in northwest China's Gobi desert, with the rocket rising in clouds of smoke a ... read more