China launches the Wentian laboratory module for the space station. Photo: Fan Wei/GT
The Wentian Lab module has been launched successfully. Chart: GT
After being shuttled to the core module of China’s Tianhe Space Station for more than a month, the Shenzhou-14 crew of three taikonauts are now just hours away from performing their first major missions in orbit , receiving the arrival of the Wentian laboratory module and adding it to the three-module China Space Station.
With coconut trees shaking on the coastline of southern China’s tropical island province of Hainan, the giant heavy-lift Long March-5B Y3 launch vehicle blasted off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site at 2 a.m. Sunday: 22 pm and it was sent successfully. Wentian, the country’s first space station laboratory module, in pre-established orbit.
After a flight of about eight minutes, the Wentian module separated from the rocket body and entered a predetermined orbit, marking the success of the launch mission, the China Manned Space Agency said in a statement he delivered to the Global Times on Sunday.
Wentian is expected to perform a semi-autonomous rendezvous and docking with the space station’s Tianhe Central Cabin in the forward port, and in a few hours, the Tianhe Space Station’s central module will receive a new spacecraft for the first time while the crew is on board.
Dubbed the “heaviest friend” among all single space modules in active service in the world, the Wentian Laboratory Module is the second in the three-module core structure of the China Space Station, after the first Tianhe Core Module 16 meters long released per year. April 2021.
China launches the Wentian laboratory module for the space station. Photo: Fan Wei/GT
The future expansion structure of the China Space Station, which according to China’s manned space authorities, will weigh more than 180 tons. Now, with Wentian docked on the Tianhe, the combined weight of the space station has reached about 50 tons.
With all-inclusive systems and functions equipped in Wentian, the laboratory module has been considered by some observers as a “mini space station”. Can the comprehensive module technology provide the possibility of adding new modules to the Chinese space station in the future to further expand its scale and function?
Liang Xiaofeng, Wentian’s chief electrical designer, told the Global Times that from a technical point of view, Wentian has paved the way for expansion, but subsequent plans will be in line with the project global “We have to analyze and sort out the needs of each plan, but we have definitely acquired the key technologies [for module expansion] in reserve”.
The new modules to be added to the T-shaped structure could be foreign spacecraft, such as laboratory modules or manned spacecraft, senior space expert Pang Zhihao told the Global Times.
Summarizing the laboratory module’s functions, state-owned space giant China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC), the prime contractor for the space station program, said in a statement sent to the Global Times that Wentian is primarily designed with the capability of unified management and control of station assembly, as well as the ability to dock, transpose and park in the central cabin. It will also support taikonauts’ stay in orbit by providing a special cabin and emergency shelter to ensure their safety during extravehicular activities or spacewalk missions, and support various scientific experiments inside and outside the cabins.
For starters, with Wentian docked into the space station combo, the taikonauts’ living and working area will instantly double. In addition, Wentian’s larger diameter airlock would facilitate crew space missions, an obvious change for the better for the crew, among others.
The key functions of Wentian’s platform are the same as Tianhe’s, which means that both would serve as a backup for each other, and both are capable of covering all the task requirements necessary for assembly, said the CASC.
Weighing 23 tons at launch, Wentian consists of three parts: a working cabin, a lock cabin and a resource cabin, with a total length of 17.9 meters and a diameter of 4.2 meters.
Photo: Combination of China’s Wentian Space Station Laboratory Module and Long March-5B Y3 launch vehicle at the Wenchang Space Launch Site on July 24, 2022 Photo: Tu Haichao
It weighs about the same as a Beijing subway car, even bigger than Tianhe’s central cabin, which is 16.6 meters long and weighs 22.5 tons. Wentian is also heavier than any other single-module spacecraft with a flight function that remains in active service, including those deployed to the International Space Station, according to the CASC.
Wentian’s work cabin is by far the largest single enclosed cabin in China, including three sleeping areas and a sanitary area. Upon docking, the space station will be able to accommodate six astronauts. That is, when the crew of the Shenzhou-15 mission meets with the Shenzhou-14 for a spin in space, Li Jinlin, chief designer of extravehicular suits for the China Manned Space Agency’s Astronaut System , he told the Global Times.
The cabin has a unique shape: square on the outside but round on the inside. This is an “upgraded version” of that of the basic module, which expands the “provider” for astronauts to change into spacesuits and prepare for their spacewalk missions, and a door with a diameter of one meter , which allows for more comfortable exit and entry for the astronauts, while also allowing them to carry larger equipment outside the cabin.
Therefore, the lock cabin at Wentian will become the main entry and exit point for extra-vehicular activities, while the previous one at Tianhe will serve as a backup.
Meanwhile, with two exit and entry cabins, they will greatly increase reliability and better ensure the safety of taikonauts in case of emergency during extra-vehicular work, Li said.
Wentian lab module explained in detail. Graphic: Deng Zijun/GT
Outside the cabin are 22 extravehicular payload interfaces. In the next decade, experimental payloads delivered to the space station will be precisely “docked” to their corresponding interfaces with the help of robotic arms, no longer requiring manual operation by astronauts, CASC revealed to the Global Times .
Apart from the 22 interfaces, the Wentian laboratory has also housed eight experimental cabinets. It will mainly focus on the study of space life sciences, which can support the growth, development, genetics and aging of multiple species of plants, animals and microorganisms under space conditions, Academy of Sciences researcher Lv Congmin of China and attached. the chief designer of the space utilization system of China’s manned space program, told the Global Times.
More than 10 research directions have been planned and more than 40 scientific projects have been established for Wentian, said Lv.
The other Mengtian laboratory module, which will be launched in October, will be aimed at microgravity scientific research and is equipped with experimental cabinets for experiments in fluid physics, materials science, combustion science, basic physics and space technology.
China launches the Wentian laboratory module for the space station. Photo: Huang Guochang
Another highlight of the Wentian laboratory module is a small five-meter-long robotic arm installed outside the air cabin. With seven degrees of freedom, the assembly has greater precision and flexibility to “grab” small and medium equipment, and is capable of more delicate operations than the larger robotic arm with the Tianhe module.
The weight and length of the small robotic arm is about half that of the big one in Tianhe’s main cabin, and the load capacity is about one-eighth of the big arm. When combined, they will have a total length of 15 meters, and in the future they will be able to “scale” the three modules of Tianhe, Wentian and Mengtian.
Apart from its extra-large size, Wentian has a set of extraordinarily long wings: flexible solar panels with two degrees of freedom. The total wingspan exceeds 55 meters, more than half a football field, which sets a new record for solar panels used for China’s spacecraft. Each panel has a deployed surface of about 110 square meters.
The two solar panels will effectively collect more solar energy, generating an average of more than 430 kilowatt hours per day and providing enough power for space station operations. If placed on the ground, the daily energy generation from the solar panels is enough to meet the energy demand of an average household in Beijing for one and a half months.
Upon completion of the space station, one of Tianhe’s solar panels will be transferred to the back of Wentian, and then the core module will focus solely on the operation of the station, while the laboratory module will become the ” main power”. home.”