Already 53 days into their trip in orbit, the three crew members of Shenzhou-12 spacecraft have no problems watching Tokyo Olympic Games live from China’s Tianhe space station core module, which is orbiting some 390 kilometers above Earth, amid their busy work routine, thanks to advanced space communication technology that have amazed Chinese netizens.
The crew, Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo, sent congratulations and best wishes to Chinese athletes who were competing in Tokyo in a video that state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) posted on its Twitter-like Sina Weibo account on Saturday night.
Tang said in the video that although they had a very busy work schedule, watching Olympic Games in their leisure time had brought joys to their life in the space.
“The Tokyo Olympic Games are wonderful, and we would particularly watch the games that Chinese athletes played in. Chinese players challenge themselves and have achieved a lot of great wins and set new records, and we Chinese are so proud of them. We feel truly happy for them,” said Liu.
“Competition, communication, hard-work, struggling, laughter and tears, are all the charm of Olympics. The wonderful performance of the athletes inspires us all to work hard and to be a better self,” Shenzhou-12 crew leader Nie said to the camera.
CCTV reported that technicians on the ground use relay satellites to transfer the TV signals to the space station in real-time.
The three taikonauts are equipped with mobile phones and tablets, allowing them to make phone calls or launch video chat with the ground team and their families with data transmission rates almost the same as those on Earth.
Chinese netizens commented on social media that watching Olympics Games live in space is “cool” and “wonderful”.
“Most people have been so busy watching the Olympics that we almost forgot that we have three astronauts in space… Feeling so proud!” another netizen wrote.
In fact, the Tianhe “space villa,” a name that was used by netizens because of its three separate deluxe bedrooms, a broad living room and a bathroom, also has a space gym equipped with a specially designed treadmill and a bicycle to support taikonauts’ daily need for physical exercise.
Screen image taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on July 4, 2021 shows Chinese astronaut Nie Haisheng staying inside Tianhe in cooperation with Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo for their extravehicular activities (EVAs). Chinese astronauts Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo had both slipped out of the space station core module Tianhe by 11:02 a.m. (Beijing Time) on Sunday, starting EVAs, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).Photo: Xinhua
