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The crew of China's Shenzhou 12 mission salute for a photo inside the Tianhe core module of the Tiangong space station after successfully docking at the module on June 17, 2021.
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The second Tianhe core module could then allow two more modules to join the orbital outpost. "We can further expand our current three-module space station combination into a four-module, cross-shaped combination in the future," Bai told CCTV. The space station could potentially be expanded to six modules, if everything goes according to plan. Xuntian will aim to survey 40% of the sky over 10 years using its huge, 2.5-billion-pixel camera. Named Xuntian, which translates to "survey the heavens," the telescope will have a 6.6-foot (2 m) diameter mirror like Hubble but will have a field of view 300 times greater. Once completed, Tiangong will be joined by a huge, Hubble-like space telescope, which will share the space station's orbit and be able to dock for repairs, maintenance and possibly upgrades. The first three launches - Tianhe, Tianzhou 2 and Shenzhou 12 - have gone smoothly. It is the main habitat for the astronauts and also houses the propulsion systems to keep the space station in orbit.Ĭhina has said it will take 11 launches to finish Tiangong: three module launches, four crewed missions and four Tianzhou spacecraft to supply cargo and fuel. Tianhe features regenerative life support, including a way to recycle urine, to allow astronauts to stay in orbit for long periods. The new Tiangong, visiting spacecraft and cargo spacecraft will expand the usable space for the astronauts so much that they'll feel as though "they will be living in a villa," compared with how little space was available on previous Chinese space labs, Bai Linhou, deputy chief designer of the space station, told CCTV. Tianhe is much larger than the Tiangong 1 and 2 test space labs China launched in the last decade and nearly three times heavier, at 24 tons (22 metric tons).