Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Credit: China National Space Administration (CNSA)/China Media Group(CMG)/China Central Television (CCTV)/Inside Outer Space screengrab

China’s Shenzhou-14 astronauts are readying hardware for a spacewalk, venturing out of the in-construction space station through the airlock cabin of the Wentian lab module for the first time.

The Wentian module was launched and docked with the Tianhe core module of China’s space station in July.

This lab module functions both as a backup of the core module and as a scientific experiment platform. The Wentian module, the largest and heaviest spacecraft China ever launched, is nearly 60 feet long (17.9 meters) and has a maximum diameter of 13.8 (4.2 meters).

Shenzhou-14 crew enters new lab module. Credit: China National Space Administration (CNSA)/China Media Group(CMG)/China Central Television (CCTV)/Inside Outer Space screengrab

Outfitted module

Wentian consists of a work cabin, an airlock cabin and a resource cabin. In the work cabin, there are three sleeping areas and one sanitary area. The Wentian module is also outfitted with a small, flexible mechanical arm can perform precision operations, and flexible solar wings, which can provide sufficient energy for the operation of the space station.

The Shenzhou-14 crew consists of Chen Dong, Liu Yang, and Cai Xuzhe. The taikonaut trio has stayed in orbit for 70 days as of Saturday since they were sent into space in June.

The current composition of China’s space station is formed by the Tianhe core module, the Wentian lab module, the Shenzhou-14 spaceship and the Tianzhou-4 cargo craft.

A video is available at: https://youtu.be/pEv7fJdwW0Q