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<\/p>\nChina launched a Chang Zheng 5B rocket with the Tianhe station core module to low Earth orbit, marking the start of an ambitious two year construction effort of the nation\u2019s new multi-module space station.<\/p>\n
Liftoff of the historic mission occurred at 23:23 EDT on Wednesday, 28 April \u2014 which was 03:23 UTC on Thursday, 29 April \u2014 from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on Hainan Province island, People\u2019s Republic of China.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Tianhe seeks \u201charmony of the heavens\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
Launch of the Tianhe module marks a transition from China\u2019s original human spaceflight goals to the start of a permanent presence in space. China is effectively banned from participation in the International Space Station program due to geopolitical strife with the United States.<\/p>\n
Tracing its roots to 1992 as part of the initial plans for China\u2019s human spaceflight program, the Tianhe module will take the next step from the initial Tiangong program \u2014 which saw the gradual evolution of single-module Chinese space labs in a \u201cspace laboratory\u201d learning phase.<\/p>\n
Tianhe, \u201charmony of the heavens\u201d, will be the bedrock of the Chinese Space Station (CSS), like Zarya was for the International Space Station in 1998. However, Tianhe is based heavily on the Functional Cargo Block (FGB) elements of the Russian space program \u2014 which formed the core of Mir and which serves as the grounding design of the Zvezda service module of the International Space Station.<\/p>\n
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The Tianhe module in preparation for launch. (Credit: CMS)<\/p>\n
The docking hub on the forward part of Tianhe is configured to allow the addition of two science modules on the two radial ports, while also providing docking access for the Tianzhou and Shenzhou cargo and crew spacecraft, respectively, on the forward and nadir docking ports.<\/p>\n
Spaceflight history books (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n Like Mir, unsurprising given Chinese-Russian technological cooperation on this program and the docking system\u2019s compatibility with Russian spacecraft, the Chinese Space Station\u2019s new modules will be delivered robotically and will have to autonomously dock themselves to Tianhe.<\/p>\n But only the forward and nadir docking ports are outfitted with rendezvous equipment. This means the two future science modules, Wentian (\u201cQuest for the heavens\u201d) and Mengtian (\u201cDreaming of the heavens\u201d), cannot dock directly to their planned radial port locations. Instead, they will have to first dock themselves to the forward port on Tianhe.<\/p>\n To account for this, each module will carry a Russian Lyappa robotic arm \u2014 like the ones used on Mir for the same purpose \u2014 to move the module from the forward port to its respective permanent location on a radial port of Tianhe\u2019s docking hub.<\/p>\n In addition to the docking relocation Lyappa arm, Tianhe and Wentian will both launch with an additional Canadian-style robotic arm for exterior station operations.<\/p>\n This dual-arm redundancy on the CSS is also seen with Tianhe in a different way. During the China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition in 2018, Chinese officials revealed that two Tiahne modules had been built, with the second to serve as a backup, or insurance, in case of a launch failure.<\/p>\n If unneeded as a backup, it is possible Chinese space officials could opt to launch the second control module to join the station as part of an in-planning future expansion of the outpost beyond its initial three module baseline.<\/p>\nSee Also<\/h4>\n
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