By 
July 17th, 2022
The Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft was undocked from the Tianhe Core Module on July 17, 2022.
Credit: China National Space Administration (CNSA)/China Central Television (CCTV)/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s space station construction site entered a new stage with the undocking of the Tianzhou-3 cargo craft in preparation for the launch of the Wentian lab module.
Video released by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) showed the freighter slowly detaching from the front docking port of the core module Tianhe and flying away.
Credit: Lee Brandon-Cremer (CC BY-SA 4.0)
“Before undocking, Tianzhou-3 was docked with the core module’s front port, which will be the one lab module Wentian docks with following its launch. So, before Wentian arrives, Tianzhou-3 needed to detach from the combination to prepare for the launch of the lab module,” said Jiang Ping, deputy chief designer with the cargo spacecraft team at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center.
“The entire undocking process went on without a hitch, with the craft completing the separation safe and sound and switching to normal in-orbit flight mode,” Jiang said in a China Central Television (CCTV) video.
Solo flight mode
“Tianzhou-3 is now in solo flight mode. Next, after the successful launch of lab module Wentian and its subsequent docking with the space station combination, Tianzhou-3 will be deorbited. By then we will lower the cargo craft’s flight altitude through two orbit adjustments,” said Luo Chengdong, assistant to the cargo spacecraft program at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
Shenzhou-14 crew.
Credit: CNSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space
Tianzhou-3 was lofted on September 20, 2021 from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern province of Hainan. It delivered six tons of goods to the country’s under-construction space station.
Now onboard the station’s core module, the Shenzhou-14 crew — Chen Dong, Liu Yang, and Cai Xuzhe – are the third batch of astronauts to work within the Chinese space station.
Busiest-ever mission
During the busiest-ever spaceflight mission of six months, the trio will carry out an array of sophisticated tasks in space and complete the construction of the Tiangong space station, with a basic three-module structure consisting of the core module Tianhe and the lab modules Wentian and Mengtian.
Mengtian Lab Module undergoes ground testing.
Credit: CAST
In the six months, the trio will conduct rendezvous and docking for five times, three separation missions, and two transposition tasks [with the core module]. They will enter the two lab modules for the first time.
The astronauts will also carry out relevant function tests on the two-module space station complex, three-module space station complex and large and small mechanical arms with the assistance of the ground team, according to CCTV.
China is set to launch the lab module Wentian later this month (likely July 24) and another lab module Mengtian in October. The intent is to fully outfit the orbiting outpost by year’s end.
For a video of the supply craft undocking, go to:
Posted in Space News
