China successfully launches space station lab module Mengtian

China successfully launched lab module Mengtian, the last major component of its space station, into orbit on Monday afternoon, getting a step closer to completing the space station by the end of this year.

China successfully launches space station lab module Mengtian

China successfully launched lab module Mengtian, the last major component of its space station, into orbit on Monday afternoon, getting a step closer to completing the space station by the end of this year.

A Long March-5B rocket carrying Mengtian blasted off at 15:37 (Beijing Time) from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China’s Hainan Province.

About eight minutes later, the lab module separated from the carrier rocket and entered its preset orbit. The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) declared the launch mission a complete success.

In the next couple of hours, Mengtian will rendezvous and dock with the in-orbit space station complex currently composed of the Tianhe core module and the Wentian lab module, according to the CMSA.

Mengtian, which means “Dreams of Heaven,” is the last “building block” that allows China’s space station to form a T-shaped three-module structure.

The module is similar to Tianhe and Wentian in size and weight. It’s 17.9 meters long, with a maximum diameter of 4.2 meters and a takeoff mass of about 23 tonnes.

It consists of a working cabin for astronauts, an airlock cabin, a payload cabin and a resource cabin.

Mengtian is mainly designed for scientific experiments. Unlike Tianhe and Wentian, it doesn’t have a sleeping cabin. Instead, it’s full of cabinets that can support hundreds of experiments.

The module will focus on microgravity scientific research. It is equipped with multi-disciplinary laboratory cabinets for experiments of fluid physics, materials and combustion science, basic physics and aerospace technology.

Mengtian, the second lab module of China’s space station, is like a physics laboratory in space, with eight cabinets that can support experiments on fluids, materials, combustion and basic physics.

“For example, the cold atomic physics cabinet supports studies of basic physics and condensed matter physics, and the temperature can be set to absolute zero – minus 273 degrees Celsius,” said He Yufeng, chief designer of the Mengtian Space Application System under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

He said that the cabinet can also promote the development of quantum devices. The high-temperature material experimental cabinet is for studies of space materials, and can reach 1,600 degrees Celsius. And the combustion experimental cabinets can help us study how to prevent fires in space.

The lab also has a space-based cold atomic clock system. “The clock aims to increase the precision of timekeeping in navigation, for example. And its deviation is only one second in billions of years,” he said.

There will also be experimental equipment outside the cabin. “The equipment payload outside the lab module will be sent in the following cargo vessel. They will be installed with a robotic arm and do relevant experiments involving exposure to radiation,” the designer said.

He said relevant tests involve international cooperation and the follow-up projects are already underway.