Mengtian
''Mengtian'' (), officially the ''Mengtian'' laboratory cabin module (), is a major module of the Tiangong space station. It is the second Laboratory Cabin Module launched, after ''Wentian'', and the second module to extend the existing ''Tianhe'' core module of the station. It was launched into orbit from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on 31 October 2022, successfully docking with ''Tianhe'' forward port at 20:27 UTC on the same day. On 3 November 2022, ''Mengtian'' was relocated to the larboard port at 01:32 UTC by indexing robot arm. On the same day at 07:12 UTC, the crew of Shenzhou 14 opened the hatch and entered the module for the first time. Purpose The ''Mengtian'' module is equipped with expanded in-orbit experiment capacity, including eight research cabins. It provides a pressurized environment for researchers to conduct science experiments in freefall or zero gravity which could not be conducted on Earth for more than a few minutes. Experiments can also be pl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Laboratory Cabin Module
The Laboratory Cabin Module (LCM) () is a modular component of the Tiangong space station. Based on the Tiangong-2 experimental space module, the LCMs complete the third and final stage of Project 921, the CNSA's program to establish a permanent Chinese space station. While China's small unmanned spacecraft can provide platforms for zero gravity and exposure to space for scientific research, the LCMs offer a long term environment combined with ready access by human researchers over periods that far exceed the capabilities of Shenzhou spacecraft. Operations will be controlled from the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center in China. The first LCM '' Wentian'' () was launched into orbit on 24 July 2022. The second LCM '' Mengtian'' () was launched into orbit on 31 October 2022. Purpose The first laboratory module provides additional navigation avionics, propulsion and orientation control as backup functions for the Tianhe Core Module (TCM). Both LCMs provide a pressurize ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Wentian Module
''Wentian'' (), officially the ''Wentian'' laboratory cabin module (), is a major module of the Tiangong space station. It is the first Laboratory Cabin Module launched, and the first module to extend the existing ''Tianhe'' core module of the station. It was launched into orbit from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on 24 July 2022, successfully docking with ''Tianhe'' forward port at 19:13 UTC on the same day. On 25 July 2022 at 02:03 UTC, the crew of Shenzhou 14 opened the hatch and entered the module for the first time. ''Wentian'' was later relocated to the starboard port on 30 September 2022 at 04:44 UTC by the indexing robot arm to make way for the ''Mengtian'' module. Purpose The ''Wentian'' laboratory module provides additional navigation avionics, propulsion and orientation control as backup functions for the Tianhe Core Module (TCM). It also provides a pressurized environment for researchers to conduct science experiments in freefall or zero gravity which cou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Long March 5B
Long March 5 (LM-5; zh, s=长征五号 , p=Chángzhēng wǔ hào), or Changzheng 5 (CZ-5), and also by its nickname "''Pang-Wu''" (胖五, "''Fat-Five''"), is a Chinese heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT). It is the first Chinese launch vehicle designed to use exclusively non-hypergolic liquid propellants. It is the fifth iteration of the Long March rocket family. There are currently two CZ-5 variants: CZ-5 and CZ-5B. The maximum payload capacities are approximately to low Earth orbit (for CZ-5B) and approximately to geostationary transfer orbit (for CZ-5). As of 2021, a 3-core human-rated variant, referred to as CZ-5G, designed for manned moon mission, is under development; this variant will be capable of launching a crewed spacecraft into lunar orbit. The Long March 5 roughly matches the capabilities of American NSSL heavy-lift launch vehicles such as the Delta IV Heavy. It is currently the most powerful member of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Shenzhou 14
Shenzhou 14 () was a Chinese spaceflight that launched on 5 June 2022 at 02:44 UTC. The flight marked the ninth crewed Chinese spaceflight and the fourteenth flight of the Shenzhou program. The spacecraft carried three People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps (PLAAC) taikonauts on the third flight to the ''Tianhe'' core module, the first module of the Tiangong space station. The launch of the three-person crew with a Long March 2F launch vehicle took place from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Shenzhou 14 successfully undocked from the Tianhe core module on 4 December 2022 at 03:01 UTC and subsequently performed a series of fast return de-orbit procedures which would enable the spacecraft to touchdown in nine hours. The reentry module returned to Earth on the same day at 12:09 UTC. Background The spaceflight was the second Chinese mission set to last six months (180 days). After that, the six-month stay aboard the space station will become the normal duration of the astr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
2022 In Spaceflight
This article documents notable spaceflight events during the year 2022. For the second year in a row, new records were set for the most orbital launch attempts and the most successful orbital launches in a year. Overview Exploration of the Solar System NASA continued the mission of the ''Juno'' spacecraft at Jupiter by conducting a flyby of Europa on 29 September 2022. In Mars exploration, the European Space Agency (ESA) had partnered with Roscosmos to launch the ''Rosalind Franklin'' rover using the ''Kazachok'' lander as part of ExoMars 2022. In March 2022, the launch was cancelled in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent suspension of ESA–Roscosmos cooperation on ExoMars. On 3 October 2022, the Indian Space Research Organisation released a statement that all attempts to revive their Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan, had failed and officially declared it dead citing the loss of fuel and battery power to the probe's inst ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Lyappa Arm
The Lyappa (or Ljappa) arm, officially Automatic system of re-docking (russian: Автоматическая система перестыковки (АСПр), translit=Avtomaticheskaya sistema perestykovki (ASPr)), was a robotic arm used during the assembly of the Soviet/Russian space station '' Mir''. Each of the '' Kvant-2'', '' Kristall'', '' Spektr'' and '' Priroda'' modules was equipped with one of these arms, which, after the module had docked to the Mir Core Module's forward (or axial) port, grappled one of two fixtures positioned on the core module's hub module. The module's main docking probe was then retracted, and the arm raised the module so that it could be pivoted 90 degrees for docking to one of the four radial docking ports. Likewise the Prichal module will host the grapple fixtures for the redocking of future modules docked to it from one port to another using the Lyappa Arm attached to those modules, if needed. Both the Wentian and Mengtian modules of the pl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Tianhe Core Module
''Tianhe'' (), officially the ''Tianhe'' core module (), is the first module to launch of the Tiangong space station. It was launched into orbit on 29 April 2021, as the first launch of the final phase of Tiangong program, part of the China Manned Space Program (Project 921). ''Tianhe'' follows the earlier projects Salyut, Skylab, Mir, International Space Station, Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2 space stations. It is the first module of a third-generation Chinese modular space station. Other examples of modular station projects include the Soviet/Russian Mir and the International Space Station. Operations will be controlled from the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center. In 2018, a fullscale mockup of ''Tianhe'' was publicly presented at China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai. In October 2020, China selected 18 new astronauts ahead of the space station construction to participate in the country's space station project. Functions and systems The core m ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site
The Wenchang Space Launch Site ( zh, 文昌航天发射场, links=no), located in Wenchang, Hainan, China, is a rocket launch site — one of the two spacecraft launch sites of Xichang Satellite Launch Center (the other site is in Xichang, Sichuan). It is a former suborbital test center. It is China's fourth and southernmost space vehicle launch facility (spaceport). It has been specially selected for its low latitude, which is only 19° north of the equator, allowing for the increase in payload necessary for launching China's future space station. It is capable of launching the Long March 5, currently the most powerful Chinese rocket. Unlike the space centers on the mainland, whose rail tracks are too narrow to transport the new five meter core boosters, Wenchang uses its sea port for deliveries. Initial launches of the CZ-5 booster from Wenchang were expected to start in 2014, one year after the intended commissioning of the Wenchang Launch Site. However, the first launc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Tianhe Core Module
''Tianhe'' (), officially the ''Tianhe'' core module (), is the first module to launch of the Tiangong space station. It was launched into orbit on 29 April 2021, as the first launch of the final phase of Tiangong program, part of the China Manned Space Program (Project 921). ''Tianhe'' follows the earlier projects Salyut, Skylab, Mir, International Space Station, Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2 space stations. It is the first module of a third-generation Chinese modular space station. Other examples of modular station projects include the Soviet/Russian Mir and the International Space Station. Operations will be controlled from the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center. In 2018, a fullscale mockup of ''Tianhe'' was publicly presented at China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai. In October 2020, China selected 18 new astronauts ahead of the space station construction to participate in the country's space station project. Functions and systems The core m ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Xuntian
Xuntian (), also known as the Chinese Survey Space Telescope (CSST) () is a planned Chinese space telescope currently under development. It will feature a 2 meter (6.6 foot) diameter primary mirror and is expected to have a field of view 300–350 times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope. This will allow the telescope to image up to 40 percent of the sky using its 2.5 gigapixel camera over ten years. Xuntian is scheduled for launch in December 2023 on a Long March 5B rocket to co-orbit with the Tiangong space station in slightly different orbital phases, which will allow for periodic docking with the station. The telescope will be fully operational by 2024. See also * Hubble Space Telescope * James Webb Space Telescope * Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope * Lists of telescopes This is a list of lists of telescopes. * List of astronomical interferometers at visible and infrared wavelengths * List of astronomical observatories * List of highest astronomical observatori ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Solar Power
Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic effect. Concentrated solar power systems use lens (optics), lenses or mirrors and solar tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight to a hot spot, often to drive a steam turbine. Photovoltaics were initially solely used as a source of electricity for small and medium-sized applications, from the calculator powered by a single solar cell to remote homes powered by an off-grid rooftop PV system. Commercial concentrated solar power plants were first developed in the 1980s. Since then, as the cost of solar electricity has fallen, grid-connected solar PV systems have Growth of photovoltaics, grown more or less exponentially. Millions of installations and gigawatt-scale photovoltaic power stations continue to be built, with half of new gene ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |