China launched its first human spaceflight mission in nearly five years when the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft soared into orbit with three astronauts bound for the country’s new space station.
Read MoreTwo Chinese astronauts launched Oct. 17 China Standard Time in their Shenzhou 11 spacecraft. Two days later, Oct. 19, the duo rendezvoused and docked with the one-month-old Tiangong 2 space laboratory.
Docking took place at 3:31 a.m. China Standard Time (19:31 GMT Oct. 18). A few hours later, after leak checks, Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong opened hatches between the two vehicles and entered the one-room laboratory.
Read MoreBlasting out of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center Sept. 15 in China's Gansu Province, the country's second space station, Tiangong 2, was placed into a low-Earth orbit.
While this isn't an International Space Station related blog post, this moment is important in the overall history of space stations. When Shenzhou 11 – China's crewed spacecraft – launches sometime next month, it will dock to the new outpost making Tiangong 2 the 11th occupied orbital laboratory in history.
Read MoreChina has officially shut down the country's first space station, Tiangong 1, according to a story by the Xinhua News Agency.
Read MoreOrbital Velocity is designed to be "living time capsule" about the International Space Station.
This project is an attempt to bridge an information gap between space agencies and companies, as well as a public that supports space endeavors with their tax dollars. Despite the importance of the space station, the general public doesn't always know what is happening aboard this amazing complex on a regular basis. Research being conducted isn't always readily available and what information is out there can sometimes be difficult to understand. Some people aren't even aware there is an active space program, let alone a space station.
Orbital Velocity hopes to change that by building a database of information through blogs, a website, small videos and longer documentary-like series'.
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