By 
July 6th, 2022
Credit: CNAS/CCTV Video News Agency/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s three-member Shenzhou-14 crew are preparing for a busy month in space.
The country’s in-construction space station team is preparing for arrival of the Wentian lab module that is scheduled to be launched this month.
Spacewalk suit check. Credit: CNSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Station commander Chen Dong recently tested a spacesuit, preparing for upcoming spacewalks that will depart from the Wentian module. Once attached, the astronauts will choose an appropriate time to get out of the spacecraft complex from the airlock part at the rear end of Wentian for spacewalk chores.
Credit: CNSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space
The now-orbiting trio of taikonauts — Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe — are on a sixth month mission. During their stay in orbit, the crew will witness the outfitting of two lab modules to the Tianhe core module. Also on tap is to greet the Tianzhou-5 cargo craft and the Shenzhou-15 crewed spaceship.
China’s Tiangong space station is to be fully installed in Earth orbit by the end of 2022.
Large workload
As of Tuesday, the current crew have spent a full month working and living in the space station. According to China Central Television (CCTV), the Shenzhou-14 crew has successively completed various tasks, including material arrangement and movement of key items into the Tianhe module.
Credit: CNSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space
“With the material management system, the astronauts have classified and sorted out the materials in the space station, which is quite a large workload,” said Wu Dawei, deputy chief designer, astronaut system, of the China Astronaut Research and Training Center.
“We have upgraded and improved the system for this mission, [making it easier for] the astronauts to take some photos and videos, sort out and record the information of materials in the space station, which has further facilitated the communication between the Earth and the space station,” Wu told CCTV.
Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Launch schedule
China is set to launch the Wentian laboratory module to dock with the current complex of China’s space station in late July and then loft the Mengtian laboratory module at the end of this year. Most of laboratory cabinets prepared for carrying out space station experiments will be confined within the Wentian and Mengtian modules.
Following this phase, the Tianzhou-5 cargo craft and the Shenzhou-15 piloted spacecraft will arrive at the complex later this year.
The crew members of the Shenzhou-15 will join the Shenzhou-14 taikonauts aboard the Tiangong for the station’s first-ever crew handover.
For video updates on activities on the station core module by the Shenzhou-14 crew, go to:
Posted in Space News
