Ever thought about snacking on fresh fruits while floating among the stars? 🌟 Well, the taikonauts aboard the China Space Station are living that dream! Tianzhou-7, the world's largest cargo spacecraft, has just delivered a whopping 90 kilograms of fruits to space. 🍎🍌🍇
Tianzhou-7 isn't just any spacecraft. It's a super-sized cosmic delivery truck that's helping Chinese spacecraft up their game with each launch. Tianzhou-6 previously brought up 70 kg of goodies, already more than double the amount from the mission before that. Now, with 90 kg aboard Tianzhou-7, the Shenzhou-17 and Shenzhou-18 crews are all set for their space adventures with plenty of healthy snacks! 🚀
But wait, there's more! This mission is packed with exciting facts. For starters, Tianzhou-7 is the first spacecraft to visit the China Space Station this year. And talk about speedy service—the rendezvous and docking took only about three hours! That's a sweet spot between efficiency and safety, faster than previous 6.5-hour missions but not quite as speedy as the record-setting two hours by Tianzhou-5 back in 2022. ⏲️
Thanks to enhancements in payload capacity, Tianzhou cargo ships now need to make supply runs only three times every two years instead of twice a year. That's efficiency for you! The design upgrades in Tianzhou-6 through Tianzhou-11 have increased the cargo volume to 22.5 cubic meters, with each ship carrying up to 6.7 tonnes of cargo. The total loading capacity? A massive 7.4 tonnes! 📦
How did they make room for all that extra stuff? By trimming down the fuel tanks to four since the space station doesn't need as much propellant for attitude adjustments now that its construction is complete. Smart move! The spacecraft itself is pretty huge—measuring 10.65 meters in length and 3.35 meters in diameter at the cargo module. That's bigger than a medium-sized bus cruising through space! 🚌✨
And who knows what's next? The Tianzhou spacecraft are modular, meaning they can be adapted for different missions. Right now, the cargo module is fully pressurized for cargo delivery, but future versions could be semi-pressurized or even fully open to carry large experimental payloads, maintenance parts like solar array wings, or perhaps even expansion segments for the space station. The possibilities are as vast as space itself! 🌌
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
