JIUQUAN, China: A spaceship carrying three astronauts from China’s Shenzhou-18 mission safely docked at Tiangong space station Friday, state-run media reported, the latest step in Beijing’s space program that aims to send astronauts to the Moon by 2030.

The crew took off in a capsule atop a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China’s northwest at 8:59 p.m. local time 1259 GMT) Thursday.
By early Friday the spacecraft had “successfully docked” with the space station, state-run news agency Xinhua reported, citing the China Manned Space Agency.
The mission is led by Ye Guangfu, a fighter pilot and astronaut who was previously part of the Shenzhou-13 crew in 2021.
He is joined by astronauts Li Cong and Li Guangsu, who are heading into space for the first time.

Onlookers cheered as the rocket blasted off into the night sky, an AFP journalist at the scene said.
Xinhua said the launch had been declared a “complete success.”
The astronauts will stay at the Tiangong space station for six months.

There they plan to carry out experiments “in the fields of basic physics in microgravity, space material science, space life science, space medicine and space technology,” the China Manned Space Agency has said.
They will also try and create an aquarium onboard and seek to raise fish in zero gravity, according to Xinhua.
“Not only will the taikonauts find joy in the space ‘aquarium,’ but it may also pave the way for their future counterparts to enjoy nutritious fish from their own in-orbit harvests,” it added.

They will also conduct experiments on “fruit flies and mice,” a researcher quoted by the agency said.
The new crew will replace the Shenzhou-17 team, who were sent to the station in October.
Plans for China’s “space dream” have been put into overdrive under President Xi Jinping.
The world’s second-largest economy has pumped billions of dollars into its military-run space program in an effort to catch up with the United States and Russia.
Beijing also aims to send a crewed mission to the Moon by 2030, and plans to build a base on the lunar surface.
China has been effectively excluded from the International Space Station since 2011, when the United States banned NASA from engaging with the country — pushing Beijing to develop its own orbital outpost.
That station is the Tiangong, which means “heavenly palace” — the crown jewel of a space program that has landed robotic rovers on Mars and the Moon, and made China the third country to independently put humans in orbit.
It is constantly crewed by rotating teams of three astronauts, with construction completed in 2022.
The Tiangong is expected to remain in low Earth orbit at between 400 and 450 kilometers (250 and 280 miles) above the planet for at least 10 years.
 

LONDON: German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s visit to Turkiye this week has stirred controversy after he brought along a 60-kg kebab skewer as part of his diplomatic mission.

Starting his three-day tour in Istanbul instead of Ankara, Steinmeier served kebabs at a reception, viewing it as a symbol of cultural exchange between the two nations.

“It is these special and intense relationships that bridge distances, and also some differences, today,” he said.

However, rather than emphasizing the close personal ties between Germans and Turks, the gesture drew criticism from many in the diaspora who viewed it as reducing their community’s contributions to a stereotypical image.

Germany, home to 2.7 million people of Turkish descent, welcomed hundreds of thousands of workers in the 1960s as part of its “guest worker” program, a bilateral agreement with Ankara to address labor shortages.

Turkish-Germans took to social media to condemn what they saw as a clumsy attempt to represent their community, accusing Steinmeier of failing to take them seriously or treat them as equals.

“Turkish-Germans discovered the 1st COVID vaccine in the world; some were movie directors who won awards on behalf of Germany, numerous writers, musicians, intellectuals from Turkey call Germany home,” wrote Evren Celik Wiltse, a professor of political science, on X.

“Of all of these, the (German) president chose the kebab maker to accompany him to (Turkiye)”, she added.

Turkish-Germans discovered the 1st COVID vaccine in the world; some were movie directors who won awards on behalf of Germany, numerous writers, musicians, intellectuals from Turkey call Germany home.
Of all these, the president chose the kebab maker to accompany him to https://t.co/ZVMHyi48P0

— Evren Celik Wiltse (@EvrenWiltse) April 22, 2024

Berkay Mandıracı, a senior analyst of Turkish-German heritage at the non-governmental organization Crisis Group, acknowledged that the gesture was well-intentioned but felt it was “anachronistic and reductionist.” 

A well-intended gesture, I'm sure, but somehow not belonging to this age. As someone born and raised (until I was 12) in Germany, this feels anachronistic and reductionist.

But let's not read too much into it and hope the rest of the visit will deepen Turkish-German ties https://t.co/ZjUvCLH7ES

— Berkay Mandıracı (@BerkayMANDIRACI) April 23, 2024

The faux pas, which risked overshadowing the celebration of 100 years of diplomatic ties between the two nations, received the approval of Arif Keles, a third-generation kebab shop owner invited on the delegation trip by Steinmeier.

Keles, who served kebabs during the reception, described the opportunity as a “great honor.”

The dish of thinly sliced meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie was introduced to Germany by Turkish migrants.

Packed with chopped vegetables and doused with mayonnaise, the doner kebab has gained iconic status.

Local sales of the kebab total an estimated €7 billion ($7.5 billion), an immigrant success story the German presidency wanted to celebrate as an example of “how much Turkiye and Germany have grown together.”

Relations between Berlin and Ankara have been strained by various disputes, including disagreements over the Gaza conflict.

Steinmeier, visiting Turkiye for the first time since assuming office in 2017, has had a challenging relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, criticizing him for his approach to concerns about democratic norms in Turkiye.

Turkish-Germans have long spoken up about economic and social exclusion. Last year, Germany agreed to significantly ease citizenship rules to allow more dual nationals, a move welcomed by many Turkish individuals who have lived in Germany for decades.

With AFP