Tianzhou 6 sets off for space station天舟六号

左琴

天舟六號的货物舱有了比较大的改进，密封舱的货物运输能力也有大幅度的提升。这意味着将来天舟六号给航天员提供支撑的时间会增加。

The first spacecraft to visit China’sTiangong space station this year—the Tianzhou6 robotic cargo ship， was launched onthe evening of May 10th to transport materialsfor the next manned missions.

After a short flight， the rocket placedTianzhou 6intoalowEarthorbit.Thethreestoreycargo ship then traveled for a fewhourstorendezvous（会合）withthe Tiangongstation and dock with the massive outpost.

Tianzhou 6 is carrying about 260packages with a combined weight of nearly5.8 metric tons， including supplies to sustainthe threemembercrew for 280 days.The food packages contain about 70 kilogramsof fresh fruits， double those carriedby the Tianzhou 5. In addition， there are98 packages of scientific equipment， whichweigh 714 kilograms and include spareparts and experimental materials.

The expansion in capacity of Tianzhou6 means China will need to launch aTianzhou mission every eight months， insteadof every six months， as previously.The vehicles are 10.6 meters long and3.35 meters wide. It is the world’s bestspace cargo transporter when it comes tocarrying capacity—more than half of its13.5tonliftoffweight can be used for payloads，according to designers.

Tiangong’s current inhabitants— thethree members of the Shenzhou XV missionarrived at the station on November 30th.At present， the Shenzhou XV astronauts—mission commander Major General Fei Junlong，Senior Colonel Deng Qingming and Senior Colonel Zhang Lu—have conductedfour spacewalks to mount equipment requiredfor extravehicular scientific experimentsand technological demonstrations.

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