The Tianzhou-8 cargo craft, tasked with carrying supplies for China's space station, separated from the station combination at 15:09 on Tuesday, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
The cargo craft will re-enter the atmosphere in a controlled manner, the CMSA said.
Most of the components of the cargo craft will be ablated and destroyed during re-entry into the atmosphere, and a small amount of debris will fall into the designated safe sea area, the CMSA said.
Tianzhou-8 was launched into space atop a Long March-7 Y9 carrier rocket at 23:13 Beijing Time (15:13 GMT) on Nov 15, 2024 from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern island province of Hainan. About three hours later, the Tianzhou-8 cargo craft docked at the rear docking port of Tianhe, the core module of the Tiangong space station.
At 08:26 Beijing Time (0026 GMT) on Nov 16, astronaut Cai Xuzhe opened the hatch and entered the Tianzhou-8 cargo spacecraft. Tianzhou-8 carried about six tons of materials, including consumables for the astronauts' in-orbit residency, propellants, experiment equipment, and 458 kilograms of scientific research supplies.
"It is mainly used to support scientific experiments in the fields of space life and biotechnology, space materials science, microgravity fluid physics and combustion, as well as our new space application technologies. In total, it can support 36 scientific experiments," said Jin Xuena, researcher of the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
For the first time, a brick made of synthetic lunar soil was brought aboard the space station and subject to an exposure experiment to test their mechanical, thermal and radiation resistance properties, accumulating scientific research data for future construction on the moon.
China's Tianzhou-8 cargo craft separates from space station combination
China's Tianzhou-8 cargo craft separates from space station combination
