The already orbiting 23-ton Wentian laboratory is designed for science and biology experiments and is heavier than any other single-module spacecraft currently in space.
China's space station lab module Mengtian and a Long March 5B Y4 carrier rocket are seen on launch tower at the Wenchang Space Launch Site on October 31, 2022 in the Wenchang, Hainan Province of China.— China on Monday launched the third and final module to complete its permanent space station, realizing a more than decade-long endeavor to maintain a constant crewed presence in orbit.
Many waved Chinese flags and wore T-shirts emblazoned with the characters for China, reflecting the deep national pride invested in the space program and the technological progress it represents. Mengtian was due to spend 13 hours in flight before reaching Tiangong, which is populated by a crew of two male and one female astronauts, according to the China Manned Space Agency., during which they will complete the station's assembly, conduct space walks and carry out additional experiments.
Next year, China plans to launch the Xuntian space telescope which, while not a part of Tiangong, will orbit in sequence with the station and can dock occasionally with it for maintenance.China's crewed space program is officially three decades old this year. But it truly got underway in 2003, when China became only the third country after the U.S. and Russia to put a human into space using its own resources.
The permanent Chinese station will weigh about 66 tons - a fraction of the size of the ISS - which launched its first module in 1998 and weighs around 465 tons. China's Chang'e 5 probe returned lunar rocks to Earth for the first time since the 1970s in December 2000 and another Chinese rover is searching for evidence of life on Mars. Officials are also considering a crewed mission to the moon.
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