TIANGONG-2

Tiangong-2 was the Chinese space laboratory which was used as a testbed for key technologies that will be used in the Chinese large modular space station, which is planned for launch between 2019 and 2022.

Features of Tiangong-2

• Tiangong-2 which weighed 8.6 metric tones was 10.4 metres long and 3.35 metres wide at its widest point.
• Launched on September 15, 2016, Tiangong-2 hosted two Chinese astronauts for 30 days. This was China’s longest manned space mission till date.
• Tiangong-2 was commissioned after Tiangong-1, China’s first space station crashed into the southern Pacific Ocean on April 1, 2018.
• Tiangong-2 was destroyed upon its controlled re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean on July 19.
• Most of Tiangong-2 burnt up in the atmosphere, and the remaining debris fell near Point Nemo.

Tianhe which is china’s space station is expected to be ready to be able to host three astronauts for long durations, around 2022.

Point Nemo

Point Nemo which is also known as “the oceanic pole of inaccessibility is the point in the ocean that is farthest away from land. Point Nemo is so far from land that its nearest neighbours are often astronauts aboard the International Space Station.