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China will take a private citizen to the Tiangong space station on Tuesday for the first time in its history.

During the 20th century, the race to space was fought mainly between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. But in recent years, China is also beginning to emerge as a space superpower. Among other things, the country has already sent probes to the moon and Mars and has had its for the first time since last year.

In the news: On Tuesday, space expert Gui Haichao, a professor at Beijing University, will be launched to Tiangong with a team of taikonauts.

  • Together with two professional astronauts, Jing Haipeng and Zhu Yangzhu, Gui will spend about six months on board. They will relieve the three-member crew currently on board.
  • The scientist will not just be conducting a tourist outing. He will mainly be responsible for scientific experiments on board.
  • Until now, only professional taikonauts have been sent to space by China. They are employed by the People's Liberation Army (PLA), China's military.
  • If all goes according to plan, the crew will depart Tuesday morning around 3:31 a.m. Belgian time. After a flight of about six hours, the taikonauts will arrive at Tiangong.

Also in the West

Noted: While Gui will become the first private Chinese aboard Tiangong, another spacecraft with civilians aboard will return to Earth on Tuesday.

  • On Sunday, May 21, SpaceX launched . Four private astronauts then flew to the International Space Station (ISS).
  • Only the mission's captain, Peggy Whitson, had previous experience in space. However, she left NASA in 2021 and has since been working as a commercial astronaut with Axiom Space.
  • The other three passengers are American John Shoffner and two Saudi astronauts, Ali AlQarni and Rayyanah Barnawi. Barnawi is the first Saudi woman in history to go to space.
  • The four-member crew will return to Earth on Tuesday after spending just over a week aboard the ISS.

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