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China sends three astronauts to rotate crews at Tiangong Space Station

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China has successfully launched three astronauts into space as part of the crew replacement mission for China’s Tiangong space station, marking another milestone in the country’s aspirations for manned missions to the moon and Mars.

The Shenzhou 20 spacecraft lifted off as scheduled at 5:17pm (0917 GMT) atop China’s Long March 2F rocket, set to arrive at Tiangong after approximately 6.5 hours.

The rocket launched from a facility near the Gobi Desert in northwestern China, and the spacecraft will remain in space until it returns the current crew back to Earth.

Tiangong, also known as the “Celestial Palace” space station, is a Chinese-built station that positions China as a significant player in space exploration after being excluded from the International Space Station due to US national security concerns. China’s space program is overseen by the People’s Liberation Army, a military branch of the ruling Communist Party.

There are concerns about China’s potential use of technology onboard the space station to interfere with satellites and other spacecraft in times of crisis.

Astronauts Chen Zonglui, Chen Dong and Wang Jie embarked on the delayed space mission at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Thursday.
Andy Wong / AP

Since sending its first astronauts into space in 2003, China has made significant strides in its space program, becoming the third country to do so. It has also landed explorers on Mars and the far side of the moon, with plans to land humans on the moon by 2030.

The Shenzhou 20 mission is led by astronaut Chen Dong, on his third spaceflight, accompanied by fighter pilot Chen Zonglui and engineer Wang Ji. Unlike previous crews, the Shenzhou 20 mission consists entirely of male astronauts.

The incoming crew will replace the current astronauts on board the Chinese space station, staying onboard for approximately six months, like their predecessors.

Scheduled to reach Tianong after 6.5 hours, the spacecraft was launched into space atop the Chinese Long March 2 rocket at 5:17pm on March 2.

The current crew was sent last October and spent 175 days in space. They are set to return on April 29, following a brief overlap with the incoming crew. Tianong, completed in October 2022, has a capacity of up to six people.

During their mission, the astronauts will conduct medical and technological experiments, perform spacewalks for maintenance tasks, and install new equipment, as announced by the Manned Space Agency.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Research suggests that universe may rotate every 500 billion years

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New research led by astronomers at the University of Hawaii suggests that our universe could spin.

In the formation of the universe, gravity links galaxies with clusters of galaxies to construct vast co-nes-like structures that link hundreds of millions of light years along an invisible bridge. This is known as Cosmic Web. Image credit: Springel et al. / Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics.

“To paraphrase the Greek philosopher Heracritus of Ephesus, he famously said Pantarei – he thought everything would change, perhaps Panta Kaicurtai – he thought everything would change.”

According to current models, the universe expands evenly in all directions with no signs of rotation. This idea fits most of what astronomers observe.

But that doesn’t explain the so-called Hubble tension. It is a long-standing discrepancy between two ways of measuring how quickly the universe is expanding.

One method examines distant exploding stars or supernovas to measure distances to galaxies, providing the magnification of the universe over the past billions of years.

Another method uses artefact radiation from the Big Bang, providing a very early universe expansion rate, about 13 billion years ago. Each gives a different value for the expansion rate.

Dr. Szapudi and his colleagues developed a mathematical model of the universe.

First, the model followed standard rules. They then added a small amount of rotation. Those small changes made a huge difference.

“To my surprise, we found that our model solves paradoxes without conflicting with current astronomical measurements,” Dr. Szapudi said.

“What’s even better is that it’s compatible with other models that assume rotation.”

“So perhaps everything really changes.

The team’s models suggest that the universe could turn once every 500 billion years.

“This idea does not break known laws of physics,” the astronomer said.

“And maybe it explains why measurements of space growth are completely disagreeable.”

“The next step is to turn the theory into a complete computer model and find ways to find signs of this slow, universe spin.”

Survey results It will be displayed in Monthly Notices from the Royal Astronomical Society.

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Balázs Endre Szigeti et al. 2025. Can rotation solve the Hubble puzzle? mnras 538(4): 3038-3041; doi: 10.1093/mnras/staf446

Source: www.sci.news