Less than two days after launching from southern China, the Tianzhou 1 supply ship was linked with the Chinese Tiangong 2 space laboratory around 240 miles above Earth on Saturday. The connection occurred after a journey from Tianzhou 1’s launch at the Wenchang Space Center on Hainan Island in the South China Sea. China completed the construction of it in 2014 and conducted the first launch there last year.
The supply ship will send propellants into the Tiangong 2 mini-space station, which launched last year and hosted two astronauts for a month-long stay in October and November, although there are no one working in it. The refueling experiment will be important technologies China needs to build and maintain a much larger orbital complex starting as soon as next year. The space station should be completed by 2022, when it will be ready to support three-person crews for expeditions lasting as long as six months.
China has not released the plan for the refueling tests, but officials said Tianzhou 1 will connect with Tiangong 2 three times and remain with the space lab for two months, then spend around three months conducting more experiments before re-entering Earth’s atmosphere later this year.
Designed to carry up to 14,300 pounds, the Tianzhou spacecraft is similar in purpose to cargo freighters that fly to the International Space Station, such as the Russian Progress supply ship and the commercial Cygnus and Dragon carriers built by Orbital ATK and Space X. “The Tianzhou 1’s carrying ability is designed according to the space station, which has great power to carry more,” said Bai Mingsheng, chief designer of the Tianzhou 1 spacecraft at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. With a launch mass of nearly around 28,460 pounds, Tianzhou 1 is the heaviest spacecraft ever launched by China, slightly bigger than the Tiangong 2 space lab itself.
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1.Where did the Tianzhou 1 meet Tiangong 2?
A In the space.
B In the South China Sea.
C On Hainan Island.
D At the Wenchang Space Center.
解析：选A。细节理解题。 根据第一段第一句的around 240 miles above Earth on Saturday可以得知天舟一号和天宫二号是在离地240英里的地方，也就是在太空相遇对接的，故选A。
2.How many astronauts are staying in the Tianzhou 1?
A No one.
B One.
C Two.
D Three.
解析：选A。细节理解题。 根据文章第二段第一句although there are no one working in it可以得知在天舟一号上没有工作人员，也就是没有一个宇航员，故选A。
3.What role does the Tianzhou 1 play in building the space station?
A Testing how long it can stay in space.
B Finding enough propellants in space.
C Discovering the ways to refueling.
D Predicting the time it will travel.
解析：选C。推理判断题。根据第二段第二句的The refueling experiment will be important technologies China needs to build and maintain a much larger orbital complex starting as soon as next year.可知，重新加注燃料是天舟一号在建空间站中起到的作用，故选C。
4.What is the advantage of the Tianzhou 1?
A The weight it can carry.
B The distance it can reach.
C The time it can last.
D The money it can save.
解析：选A。细节理解题。根据最后一段第二句的The Tianzhou 1’s carrying ability is designed according to the space station, which has great power to carry more.可以得知天舟一号的优势就是其强大的运载能力，故选A。
