China includes science lab to its orbiting space station
Image courtesy:The New Indian Express
On Monday, China adds a science laboratory to its permanent orbiting space station as heads toward completing the structure in the subsequent months.
The Wentian laboratory was launched on Sunday from the Wenchang space base on the tropical island province of Hainan with a large crowd of amateur photographers and space enthusiasts watching.
According to the China Manned Space Agency, after 13 hours of flight, it was successful in docking with the Tianhe living area of the Tiangong space station at 3:13 a.m. Monday (1913 GMT).
Photos circulated by Xinhua News Agency later showed the three astronauts inside the expanded space station. Three astronauts who began their six-month mission aboard the space station last month looked after the Wentian’s arrival and docking.
A second laboratory segment, the Mengtian, is due to be launched in October and will complete the space station.
A Long March 5B-Y3 rocket, China’s most powerful, carried the laboratory module in the third such launch since the Chinese space station enters its construction phase. It was preceded by the Tianzhou-class cargo spacecraft and the Shenzhou-14 crewed spacecraft.
China’s space program is operated by the ruling Communist Party’s military wing, the People’s Liberation Army, and has largely proceeded with the Tiangong program without other nations’ assistance. The U.S. excluded China from the International Space Station because of its military ties.
