Chinese astronauts enter lab module after successfully docks with space station
Three Chinese astronauts aboard the country's space station, currently under construction, have successfully entered the lab module on Monday, a day after the space laboratory was launched, the official media reported.
China launched its space laboratory called Wentian on Sunday, sending the country's largest-ever spacecraft into Earth's orbit to become part of the space station named Tiangong which is currently under construction.
The Wentian module docked with the front port of the space station in the early hours of Monday after it entered the planned orbit.
It is the first time that China's two 20-tonne-level spacecraft conducted rendezvous and docking in orbit, and also the first time that space rendezvous and docking were carried out during the astronauts' in-orbit stay in the space station, the China Manned Space Agency, (CMSA) told official media.
After the docking, the three astronauts who were building the space station entered the lab, Xinhua news agency reported.
In the coming weeks, Wentian will be repositioned by a robot apparatus from the forward docking port to a lateral port, where it will remain and be prepared for long-term operations, mission planners said.
The new lab module will function both as a backup of the core module and as a powerful scientific experiment platform, state-run China Daily reported.
The lab, which is the size of a subway car, is the heaviest single-cabin active spacecraft in orbit in the world, according to Liu Gang, deputy chief designer of China's manned space program's space station system.
The Wentian module consists of a work cabin, an airlock cabin and a resource cabin, the Xinhua report said.
The construction of China's Tiangong space station is expected to be
Read more on tech.hindustantimes.com
