''Mengtian'' (), officially the ''Mengtian'' laboratory cabin module (), is a major module of the Tiangong space station. It is the second

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 permanen ...

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 placed on the outside of the modules, for exposure to the

space environment Space environment is a branch of astronautics, aerospace engineering and space physics that seeks to understand and address conditions existing in space that affect the design and operation of spacecraft. A related subject, space weather, deals ...

cosmic rays Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our ow ...

, vacuum, and

solar wind The solar wind is a stream of charged particles released from the upper atmosphere of the Sun, called the corona. This plasma mostly consists of electrons, protons and alpha particles with kinetic energy between . The composition of the ...

s. It has its own airlock. Module relocation with rotation arm on Tiangong

The axial port of ''Mengtian'' is fitted with rendezvous equipment and will first dock to the axial port of Tianhe. A mechanical arm known as the indexing robotic arm, similar to the

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 ...

on the Mir space station, then moves ''Mengtian'' to a portside port of the TCM. In addition to this arm used for docking relocation, the Chinarm on ''Tianhe'' module can also be used as a backup in place of the indexing robot arm. Rotation Arm on Wentian

''Mengtian'' also carries a toolbox equipped with a dexterous robotic arm, installed to assist in cargo transfer and payload release, that can be used to launch

microsatellite A microsatellite is a tract of repetitive DNA in which certain DNA motifs (ranging in length from one to six or more base pairs) are repeated, typically 5–50 times. Microsatellites occur at thousands of locations within an organism's genome. ...

s, and an augmented-reality smart glass to assist astronauts with maintenance. Similarly to the ''Wentian'' module,

electrical power Electric power is the rate at which electrical energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt, one joule per second. Standard prefixes apply to watts as with other SI units: thousands, millions and billions ...

is provided by two steerable

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 ef ...

arrays, which use

photovoltaic Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially ...

cells to convert sunlight into electricity. With a wingspan of over 55 m (180 ft), each array has an energy collection area of 110 m² (1184 square ft). The energy is then stored to power the station when it passes into the Earth's shadow. Resupply ships will replenish fuel for LCM 2 for station-keeping, to counter the effects of atmospheric drag.

Aftermath

After launch, the ''Mengtian'' module was inserted into a

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never m ...

with an average altitude of at an

orbital inclination Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object. For a satellite orbiting the Ear ...

of 42 degrees, centered in the Earth's

thermosphere The thermosphere is the layer in the Earth's atmosphere directly above the mesosphere and below the exosphere. Within this layer of the atmosphere, ultraviolet radiation causes photoionization/photodissociation of molecules, creating ions; the th ...

. It successfully docked with the Tianhe core module nearly thirteen hours after launch.

Assembly

The Shenzhou 14 mission to the space station assists with setting up the ''Mengtian'' module in orbit.

Gallery

File:Mengtian Lab Module ground test.jpg, Mengtian lab module prior to launch

References

External links