Shenzhou-14 astronauts enter Mengtian lab module
According to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), the Shenzhou-14 astronauts successfully entered the Mengtian lab module of China's space station Tiangong at 3:12 p.m. (Beijing Time) on Thursday.
Following up, the Shenzhou-14 crew in the space station will welcome the subsequent arrival of the Tianzhou-5 cargo craft and Shenzhou-15 crewed spaceship. The Shenzhou-14 and Shenzhou-15 crew members will then conduct the first in-orbit crew rotation in China's space history. Mengtian successfully completed in-orbit transposition on Thursday morning.
It marked the formation of the space station's basic T-shape configuration, representing a key step toward the completion of China's space station. China launched the space lab module Mengtian on Oct. 31, taking the construction of the country's space station into the final stage.
China launches third and final space station component
Mengtian, or “Celestial Dream,” joins Wentian as the second laboratory module for China’s permanent space station, collectively known as Tiangong
China on Monday launched the third and final module to complete its permanent space station, realizing a more than decade-long endeavor to maintain a constant crewed presence in orbit. Mengtian was blasted into space at 3:39 p.m. (3:39 a.m. ET) Monday from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in the southern island province of Hainan.
A large crowd of amateur photographers, space enthusiasts and assorted lookers-on watched the lift-off from an adjoining beach. Many waved Chinese flags and wore T-shirts emblazoned with the characters for China, reflecting the deep national pride invested in the space program and the technological progress it represents. Mengtian, or “Celestial Dream,” joins Wentian as the second laboratory module for the station, collectively known as Tiangong, or “Celestial Palace.” Both are connected to the Tianhe core module where the crew lives and works. Like its predecessors, Mengtian was launched aboard a Long March-5B Y4 carrier rocket — a member of China’s most powerful family of launch vehicles.
Mengtian was due to spend 13 hours in flight before reaching Tiangong which is populated by a crew of two male and one female astronauts, according to the China Manned Space Agency. Chen Dong, Cai Xuzhe and Liu Yang arrived in early June for a six-month stay on board, during which they will complete the station’s assembly, conduct space walks and carry out additional experiments. Following Mengtian’s arrival, an additional un-crewed Tianzhou cargo craft is due to dock with the station next month with another crewed mission scheduled for December, at which time crews may overlap as Tiangong has sufficient room to accommodate six astronauts.
China launches Mengtian science module to Tiangong space station
hina launched its second space station module of the year aboard a Chang Zheng 5B rocket Monday. The Mengtian module lifted off at 07:37 UTC, and once docked will complete the initial phase of the construction for China’s Tiangong space station.
The launch of the Mengtian Laboratory Cabin Module, meaning “Dreaming of the Heavens,” follows the successful addition of the Wentian module to China’s Tiangong station on July 24. Like Wentian and the Tianhe core module that was launched in April 2021, Mengtian will ride into orbit aboard China’s Chang Zheng 5B (CZ-5B) rocket, also known in English as the Long March 5B.
With a mass of 23,000 kg, a length of 17.9 meters, and a diameter of 4.2 meters, Mengtian will provide space for science experiments in zero gravity, an airlock for exposure to the vacuum of space, and a small robotic arm to support extravehicular payloads. Mengtian is divided into three compartments. The crew working compartment. is a pressurized section containing storage racks for science instruments, as well as hosting the docking interface that will connect Mengtian with the Tianhe core module. The working compartment contains a wide range of instruments and science spaces.
China's space station nears completion as Mengtian lab module completes docking
Mengtian, the second lab module and the last major component of China's space station, docked with the front port of the Tianhe core module at 4:27 a.m. Tuesday (Beijing Time) after entering the planned orbit, according to the China Manned Space Agency.
The lab module was launched on Monday afternoon. It took approximately 13 hours for the whole process of rendezvous and docking. According to the plan, Mengtian will later be relocated to its permanent position and the three modules – Tianhe, Wentian lab module and Mengtian – will form a basic T-shape structure of the space station.
The rendezvous and docking process was challenging, but it went smoothly, according to Tang Yi, Head Designer of the China Space Station (CSS) System with China Academy of Space Technology (CAST). The Mengtian lab module docked with the L-shaped structure made of Tianhe and Wentian, which is asymmetrical, she told CGTN. The asymmetrical structure means challenges in the control of its attitude and orbit, she said.
China launches Mengtian research module to finish construction of Tiangong space station
China has launched the last module for its Tiangong space station, which will orbit the Earth as a space outpost and laboratory for cutting-edge research for at least a decade. At 3.37pm on Monday, the Mengtian experimental module lifted off atop a Long March 5B heavy-lift rocket from Wenchang Satellite Launch Centre on southern China’s Hainan Island.
Deng Hongqin, director of the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, declared the launch a success around 3.50pm. The 18 metre-long (59-foot) component weighing 23 tonnes – as much as four adult Asian elephants – is expected to dock with Tiangong’s core module within hours of lift-off. The rendezvous will be overseen by astronauts Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe who have been living on board the station since June. The launch date coincided with the anniversary of the death of Qian Xuesen, known as the father of China’s rocket programme, who died on October 31, 2009.
At more than 380km (236 miles) above the Earth, Mengtian will be relocated later by a robotic arm to give Tiangong its final T-shape and conclude the construction phase. It took China less than two years to assemble the three-module Tiangong in orbit, starting with the launch of the core module, Tianhe, in April last year. Compared with Tianhe and the other experimental module, Wentian, which entered orbit in July, Mengtian is equipped with more research facilities and will support a range of physics experiments under microgravity.
Mengtian lab module to conduct transposition, complete forming of China Space Station T-shape structure
Mengtian successfully docks with space station combination Graphic: Deng Zijun/GT
The Mengtian, the third and last part of the three-module China Space Station basic structure that docked with the orbiting combination of earlier modules early on Tuesday, is expected to carry out a transposition maneuver on Thursday, after which the China Space Station will complete the formation of the T-shape structure.
Sources with the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) confirmed with the Global Times on Wednesday that the transposition of the Mengtian from the Tianhe's forward docking port to the space station core module's docking ring on the side will happen on Thursday. The Wentian, the first space station lab module, completed its in-orbit transposition on September 30, which marked the first time that China has completed the in-orbit transposition of a large-scale spacecraft cabin by applying transfer facilities, according to the CMSA.
During the transposition, the Wentian lab module first completed its state configuration and separated from the space station's core module, the Tianhe. Later, the Wentian conducted its transposition and then docked with the side port of the space station's node cabin. The Wentian's transposition took about one hour, according to the CMSA.
Mengtian module 夢天
Diagram of the Mengtian module
Mengtian (simplified Chinese: 梦天; traditional Chinese: 夢天; pinyin: Mèng Tiān; lit. 'Dreaming of the Heavens'), officially the Mengtian laboratory cabin module (Chinese: 梦天实验舱), is a major module of the Tiangong space station. It was the second Laboratory Cabin Module (LCM) launched, after the Wentian module, and the second module to extend the existing Tianhe core module (TCM) of the station.
The second LCM, Mengtian, was launched in 31 October 2022. The Mengtian module is equipped with expanded in-orbit experiment capacity, including eight research cabins. It provides a pressurized environment for researchers to conduct science experiments in freefall or zero gravity which could not be conducted on Earth for more than a few minutes. Experiments can also be placed on the outside of the modules, for exposure to the space environment, cosmic rays, vacuum, and solar winds. It has its own airlock. The axial port of Mengtian is fitted with rendezvous equipment and will first dock to the axial port of Tianhe. A mechanical arm known as the indexing robotic arm, similar to the Lyappa arm on the Mir space station, then moves Mengtian to a portside port of the TCM. In addition to this arm used for docking relocation, the Chinarm on Tianhe module can also be used as a backup in place of the indexing robot arm.
Indexing Robot Arm of Wentian - In addition to this, it also carries a small 5 m (16 ft) long robotic arm like the Chinarm as a supplemental to that arm. It is used for manipulating extravehicular payloads and its positioning accuracy is 5 times better than the Chinarm. Mengtian has standard adaptors (silver squares) to hoist the payloads. There is also an adapter by which this arm can be grappled by the Chinarm it to work a single robotic arm like Orbiter Servicing Arm on Canadarms. Electrical power is provided by two steerable solar power arrays, which use photovoltaic cells to convert sunlight into electricity. Energy is stored to power the station when it passes into the Earth's shadow. Resupply ships will replenish fuel for LCM 2 for station-keeping, to counter the effects of atmospheric drag.
China space station: What is the Tiangong?
China launched a 23-tonne research lab module to its newly built space station Tiangong on Sunday 24 July. The lab Wentian, or "Quest for the Heavens", is expected to carry out biological and life science research
Tiangong space station, or "Heavenly Palace", is China's new permanent space station. The country has previously launched two temporary trial space stations, named as Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2.
The new lab Wentian is the second of three key modules to Tiangong. The first key module Tianhe - which contains living quarters for crew members - was sent into orbit in April 2021. The other key module, Mengtian science lab, is due to be launched by the end of 2022.
China has big ambitions for Tiangong. The station will have its own power, propulsion, life support systems and living quarters. It is also designed to provide refuelling power to China's new space telescope, called Xuntian, which will fly close to the space station next year.
China's Plan for Space Exploration
China is only the third country in history to have put both astronauts into space and to build a space station, after the Soviet Union (now Russia) and the US.
China hopes Tiangong will replace the International Space Station (ISS), which is due to be decommissioned in 2031. Chinese astronauts are currently excluded from the ISS because US law bans its space agency, Nasa, from sharing its data with China.
China's ambitions do not end there. A few years from now it wants to take samples from asteroids near the Earth. By 2030, it aims to have put its first astronauts on the Moon, and to have sent probes to collect samples from Mars and Jupiter.
China launches Wentian module to Tiangong space station
A Long March-5B Y3 rocket, carrying the Wentian lab module for China's space station under construction, takes off from Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Hainan province, China July 24, 2022. China Daily via REUTERS
China on Sunday launched the second of three modules to its permanent space station, in one of the final missions needed to complete the orbiting outpost by year's end.
A live feed on state broadcaster CCTV showed the 23-tonne Wentian ("Quest for the Heavens") laboratory module launching on the back of China's most powerful rocket, the Long March 5B, at 2:22 p.m. (0622 GMT) from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the southern island of Hainan. Space agency staff, seen on the live feed observing the progress of the launch from a control room, cheered and applauded when the Wentian separated from the rocket about 10 minutes after the launch.
The launch was "a complete success", CCTV reported shortly after. China began constructing the space station in April 2021 with the launch of the Tianhe module, the main living quarters, in the first of 11 crewed and uncrewed missions in the undertaking. The Wentian lab module, 17.9 metres (59 feet) long, will be where astronauts can carry out scientific experiments, along with the other lab module yet to be launched - Mengtian ("Dreaming of the Heavens").
China launches Tianhe module to Tiangong space station
Rendering of Tianhe core module with the robotic arm at docking position
Tianhe (Chinese: 天和; pinyin: Tiānhé; lit. 'Harmony of the Heavens'), officially the Tianhe core module (Chinese: 天和核心舱), is the first module to launch of the Tiangong space station. It was launched into orbit on 29 April 2021, as the first launch of the final phase of Tiangong program, part of the China Manned Space Program (Project 921).
Tianhe follows in the footsteps of Salyut, Skylab, Mir, International Space Station, Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2 space stations. It is the first module of a third-generation Chinese modular space station. Other examples of modular station projects include the Soviet/Russian Mir, Russian OPSEK, and the International Space Station. Operations will be controlled from the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center.
In 2018, a fullscale mockup of Tianhe was publicly presented at China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai. In October 2020, China selected 18 new astronauts ahead of the space station construction to participate in the country's space station project.
