This article was first published by The Conversation. Space.com's Expert voices: Op-Ed and Insights was contributed by the publication.Gareth Dorrian is a Post Doctoral Research Fellow in Space Science at the University of BirminghamIan Whittaker Senior Lecturer in Physics at Nottingham Trent UniversityThree astronauts from China's space station completed the country's first spacewalk. They are now configuring the module for future crews. The station, named Tiangong ("heavenly castle"), is the Chinese National Space Agency's (CNSA's) signature project to help China realize its ambitions of having humans orbiting Earth for a prolonged time.The Tiangong station's core modules, Tianhe ("heavenly River") and the old Chinese name of the Milky Way, have been in planning since the late 90s. They launched their core module on April 29. It is not yet complete. Yang Liwei is the chief designer of China's human spaceflight program. He said that astronauts have "a lot to do" after they enter the core module. They have more than 1,000 screws to take out.Related: China's Tiangong Space Station: What is it, why it exists, and how can you see itThe entire project, much like the Russian space station Mir or the International Space Station is too big to be launched in one rocket. Tianhe, which weighed 22.5 tonnes, was lifted to an orbit 400 km above Earth using a Long March 5B rocket launched from the Wenchang launch station on the island Hainan in China. The Long March 5B heavy lift rocket has a thrust between the SpaceX rockets Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy.The core module includes everything necessary to keep people alive in space. It includes life support systems, a cooking area, sleeping and sanitation areas as well as electrical power management and firefighting gear. The kitchen has 120 varieties of food to support the astronauts during their six-day work week. The core module also has docking ports. These ports will allow future modules, astronaut flights, and robotic cargo resupply capsules to dock.China launched two test stations in space, Tiangong-1 & Tiangong-2, to prepare for Tiangong. Chinese astronauts visited the first station, which was launched in 2011, and tested docking procedures using cargo craft. CNSA lost contact after the station was retired in 2016. Although the agency could track the station, it was unable to control the re-entry point that culminated in a fiery return of Earth. This angered the US.Tiangong-2 was launched in 2016. It was a test station that assessed living conditions in orbit. It also measured radiation levels and grew food. The controlled descent of this station saw it rise to the Pacific Ocean in 2019.Once it is assembled, Tiangong will feature the core module in the center and two laboratory modules at its sides. (Image credit to Adrian Mann/All About Space magazine/Future Plc).The core module of the Tiangong space station's pressurized modules will also include two laboratories, Mengtian ("heavenly dream") and Wentian (“heavenly quest”), which will be launched in the coming years. Each of these laboratory modules will be designed using Tiangong-2's capabilities.Contrary to the International Space Station where all modules are supplied with electrical power by large solar arrays mounted on specially-designed gantries, each Tiangong module is launched with its own solar array.Tiangong, once completed, will be over 60 tonnes and capable of supporting three astronauts for extended stays. It will also have the ability to support future spacewalks. These can be mounted inside pressurized modules, or outside on space-deployable racks.Future activitiesThe project relies heavily on international collaboration. One example is that astronauts from ESA (European Space Agency) were trained in survival techniques for oceans with Chinese astronauts. If astronauts had to quickly leave an orbiting station to return to Earth, it is likely that they would have to land in water. ESA hopes that such training will eventually allow its astronauts to fly on Chinese space missions.CNSA has recently selected nine international science experiments to be installed aboard Tiangong over the next few years. From many countries, the agency received 42 expressions of interest. One of those chosen is POLAR-2, an experiment that studies the light from gamma-ray bursts which are some the most powerful explosions ever observed in the universe. One other project is "Tumors in Space", which is led by Norwegian researchers. It will examine how space's radiation and microgravity affects tumor growth.We hope the Tiangong station will replicate the incredible success of the International Space Station by providing another platform that allows humans to live in orbit for long periods. It is certain that astronauts will have a lot of valuable experience in planning future martian and lunar exploration efforts. China and Russia recently unveiled a roadmap to the International Lunar Research Station. This project will include numerous robotic lunar orbiters as well as landers. It will end in a human-crewed research station, either on the lunar surface or in lunar orbit. If this project is successful, it could lead to Russian and Chinese astronauts being based on the Moon in the 2030s.The Chinese space program has had many notable achievements in recent years, including Tiangong. These include the first lunar sample return mission since 1970s and the country's first robotic landing on the Martian surface. This was completed in May 2018. China is clearly a contender in the new space race.This article was republished by The Conversation under Creative Commons. You can read the original article.Follow Expert Voices to keep up with the debates and issues. You can also join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. These views are the author's and may not reflect those of the publisher.
