Beijing, July 24 (BNA): China on Sunday launched the second of three modules to its permanent space station, in one of the final missions needed to complete the orbital position by the end of the year.
A live broadcast on state-run CCTV showed the 23-ton unit Wentian (“Quest for the Heavens”) being launched on the back of China’s most powerful rocket, Long March 5B, at 2:22 p.m. (0622 GMT) from Wenchang. Space Launch Center on the southern island of Hainan.
CCTV reported soon after that the launch was a “complete success”.
China began building the space station in April 2021 with the launch of the Tianhe Module, the headquarters for living, on the first of 11 manned and unmanned missions on the mission.
The Wentian Laboratory module, 17.9 meters (59 ft) long, where astronauts can conduct scientific experiments, will be along with another laboratory unit not yet launched – Mingtian (“Dream of the Heavens”).
The Wentian features an airlock cabin that will be the main exit and entry point for EVAs when the station is completed.
It will also serve as short-term accommodation for astronauts while the crew rotates on the station, and is designed to accommodate only three astronauts for the long-term.
Mengtian is expected to launch in October, and like Wentian, it is set to fuse with Tianhe to form a T-shaped structure.
Aboard the space station are Shenzhou-14 mission commander Chen Dong and his colleagues Liu Yang and Kai Xuzhi. They are scheduled to return to Earth in December with the arrival of the Shenzhou-15 . crew
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