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China launches second of three space station modules
Chinese state media reported, the uncrewed craft, named Wentian, was propelled by a Long March 5B rocket at 2:22 pm (0622 GMT
China has launched the second of three modules needed to complete its new space station, the latest step in Beijing’s ambitious space programme.
Chinese state media reported, the uncrewed craft, named Wentian, was propelled by a Long March 5B rocket at 2:22 pm (0622 GMT) from the Wenchang launch centre on China’s tropical island of Hainan.
A quarter of an hour later, an official from the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) confirmed the “success” of the launch.
AFP reports hundreds of people gathered on nearby beaches to take photos of the launcher rising through the air in a plume of white smoke.
The CSMA said after around eight minutes of flight, “the Wentian lab module successfully separated from the rocket and entered its intended orbit, making the launch a complete success.”
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Beijing launched the central module of its space station Tiangong — which means “heavenly palace” — in April 2021.
Almost 18 metres (60 feet) long and weighing 22 tons (48,500 pounds), the new module has three sleeping areas and space for scientific experiments.
It will dock with the existing module in space, a challenging operation that experts said will require several high-precision manipulations and the use of a robotic arm.
“This is the first time China has docked such large vehicles together, which is a delicate operation,” said Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
He said until the next module arrives, the space station will have a “rather unusual L-shape” which will take a lot of power to keep stable.
“These are all technical challenges that the USSR pioneered with the Mir station in the late 1980s, but it’s new to China,” he told AFP.
“But it will result in a much more capable station with the space and power to carry out more scientific experiments.”
Wentian will also serve as a backup platform to control the space station in the event of a failure.
The third and final module is scheduled to dock in October, and Tiangong — which should have a lifespan of at least 10 years — is expected to become fully operational by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, space watches have been left intrigued after a tangled object was discovered by NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover.
While many speculated whether it could be tumbleweed, piece of fishing line or even Spaghetti, the most plausible explanation is more prosaic.
AFP reports the tangled object is likely remnants of a component used to lower the robotic explorer to the Martian surface in February 2021.
“We have been discussing where it’s from, but there’s been speculation that it’s a piece of cord from the parachute or from the landing system that lowers the rover to the ground,” a spokesman for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory told AFP.
According to the report by AFP, the bundle of debris was first spotted July 12 by the rover’s front left hazard avoidance camera, but when Perseverance returned to the same spot four days later, it was gone.
It was probably carried away by wind, like a piece of a thermal blanket that might have come from the rocket-powered landing system, which was spotted last month.
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