Confirmation arrived that the Mengtian module successfully completed docking maneuvers with the Chinese Tiangong space station’s Tianhe core module. Mengtian was launched about 13 hours earlier from the Wenchang base on a Long March-5B rocket. A few hours after docking, the Shenzhou-14 mission taikonauts, as the Chinese call their astronauts, entered the new module. This success represents the completion of the first phase of the Chinese space station construction, as now it’s formed by the core module Tianhe and two laboratories after the Wentian reached orbit on July 24.
In appearance, the Mengtian module is very similar to Wentian: Almost 18 meters long and with a mass of about 23,000 kilograms. It includes additional backup functions that offer redundancy to those of the Tianhe core module and the Wentian laboratory with avionics, propulsion, a robotic arm, and an airlock to allow the taikonauts to have a second exit and entry to the station when they have to perform extravehicular activities.
The Mengtian module is even more than Wentian a laboratory in which taikonauts will conduct experiments because it’s equipped with a greater number of standard racks to host the experiments that will be sent into orbit. Chinese authorities offer little information on scientific and technological research activities conducted in space but it was revealed that they will cover several different fields.
The successful arrival of the Mengtian module means that China has completed the first phase of the construction of its Tiangong space station. In the meantime, on September 30, the Wentian module was moved to its final position, connected to another docking node of the Tianhe core module.
The Mengtian module also docked with a front node of the Tianhe core module for practical reasons and will be moved to another position that will be final. At that point, with the station’s final configuration, it will be possible to increase the crew to 6 taikonauts, at least temporarily during the turnover, for a permanent occupation. The launch of the Xuntian Space Telescope is planned for the end of 2023. It will orbit near the Tiangong and will occasionally dock there for maintenance operations.
