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China’s Wentian space lab docks with Tiangong station core module

  • Lab for science and biology experiments docked with Tianhe core module 13 hours after lift-off from southern China
  • It will soon play a role in the most challenging mission in China’s manned space flight history – a transitional assembly

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Chen Dong, one of the Tianhe astronauts, opens the hatch of the Wentian lab module after it docked on July 25. Photo: Xinhua via AP
The first experiment module of China’s Tiangong space station docked successfully early on Monday, 13 hours after blast-off from the southern province of Hainan.
Wentian, which is designed for science and biology experiments, docked with the space station’s Tianhe core module at 3.13am Beijing time, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said.

The Long March-5B rocket carrying Wentian had lifted off from the Wenchang spaceport in Hainan on Sunday afternoon, and spent about eight minutes in flight before entering orbit, according to state news agency Xinhua.

A total module length of 17.9 metres (59 feet), diameter of 4.2 metres and launch weight of about 20 tonnes (23 tonnes), make Wentian “the largest and heaviest spacecraft China has ever built”, Xinhua reported Liu Gang, deputy chief designer of the China Academy of Space Technology, as saying.

It is heavier than any other single-module spacecraft currently in orbit. By comparison, Nasa’s Hubble Space Telescope and the largest spy satellites are just about half that weight.

Inside the Wentian lab module. Photo: Xinhua via AP
Inside the Wentian lab module. Photo: Xinhua via AP

Wentian consists of a working module, an airlock module and a resource module, and carries eight experiment cabinets as well as 22 extravehicular payload adaptors over its hull.

The docking process at the front port was overseen by the three astronauts aboard Tianhe core module, marking Tiangong’s first spacecraft visit in a manned state and taking the under-construction station one step closer to completion.

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