Astronauts arrived the new lab module of China’s space station for the first time Monday, in a major step towards completing the orbital outpost by the end of the year.
The station is one of the crown jewels of Beijing’s ambitious space program, which has landed robotic rovers on Mars and the Moon, and made China only the third nation to put humans in orbit.
Once accomplished, Tiangong — or “heavenly palace” — will be continuously crewed by rotating teams of three astronauts, who will comportment scientific experiments and help test new technologies.
Wentian, the second of Tiangong’s three main sections, stopped with the station’s core module Tianhe on Monday after effectively launching from southern China a day previous, state media reported.
A few hours after reducing, the three astronauts — who have been living in the core module since June — unlocked the hatch and entered Wentian, footage from state broadcaster CCTV showed.
The crew, outfitted in blue jumpsuits, seen moving around the brightly lit module before facing the camera and waving.
Wentian will focus on life sciences and biotechnology research, rendering to official news agency Xinhua, comprising cell research and growth experiments on plants, fruit flies and zebrafish.
The module will have living space for three extra astronauts, housing up to six people throughout crew transitions, state media said.
The third and final module, alternative lab named Mengtian, scheduled for launch in October.
Tiangong, once finalized, expected to continue in low orbit 400-450 kilometres (250-280 miles) above Earth for at least 10 years.
Next year, China is also planning to unveiling a space telescope with a field of view 350 times that of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.
The telescope will be located in the same orbit as Tiangong, allowing the station to dock with it for refueling and servicing when needed.
China has dispensed billions of dollars into space flight and exploration as it pursues to build a program that replicates its stature as a rising global power.
The program has rapidly returned achievements in the last two decades, containing launching the first Chinese astronauts, a historic first measured landing on the far side of the Moon, and delivering a rover to the surface of Mars.
And after numerous missions to test the technologies requires a frequently crew outpost, it sets to finish Tiangong this year.
The station when finalized is probable to have a mass of 90 tonnes, around a quarter of the International Space Station — from which China has been disqualified by the United States.
The ISS — a collaboration amongst the United States, Russia, Canada, Europe and Japan — is due to be aged after 2024, while NASA has said it could potentially continue functional beyond 2028.