Nature: How to play science in the "Tiangong"

The Mengtian laboratory module took off from the Wenchang launch site in Hainan, China on October 31 on a Long March 5B Y4 carrier rocket. After launch, the Mengtian laboratory module formed a T-shaped configuration with the Tianhe core module and the Wentian laboratory module. Scientists will conduct more than 1,000 scientific experiments at the Tiangong space station. Currently, there are three Chinese astronauts living in the Tiangong space station.

Image source: Related report on Nature website

The Mengtian laboratory module, the third and final module of China's space station, was launched from Hainan on October 31 aboard the Long March 5B Yao-4 carrier rocket. This mission is the final battle for the assembly of the "T" basic configuration of China's Tiangong space station.

In a report on October 28, the British magazine Nature pointed out that China's Tiangong space station is about to be completed. In the next ten years, scientists will carry out more than 1,000 experiments in Tiangong, some of which will try to reproduce the results obtained on the International Space Station.

New "Science Playground"

The third and final module of China's Tiangong space station, the Mengtian laboratory module, took off from the Wenchang launch site in Hainan, China on a Long March 5B Yao-4 carrier rocket. After launch, the Mengtian laboratory module formed a T-shaped configuration with the Tianhe core module and the Wentian laboratory module.

Nature magazine reported that Tiangong is the only two laboratories in orbit with an expected service life of 10 years. During this period, scientists will carry out more than 1,000 scientific experiments on the Tiangong space station, including studying the effects of microgravity on living tissue and the burning conditions of flames.

Paul de Sousa, a space technology research and development expert at Griffith University in Australia, said that building the space station is a huge achievement. "It's great! The Tiangong space station has opened up a new scientific playground for Chinese researchers."

Researcher Zhang Wei, director of the Space Application Engineering and Technology Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told Nature that more than 25 research projects are currently being carried out on the Tiangong space station, including studies on the effects of microgravity on plant cells, bones and muscles, and molten materials, as well as protein crystallization experiments.

Chinese astronauts have brought about 12,000 seeds, including alfalfa, oats and fungi seeds, to the Tiangong space station, where they will be exposed to cosmic radiation and microgravity for six months before being sent back to Earth for planting in April next year. Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences also reported that celery and rice seedlings planted in the Wentian laboratory module had begun to sprout in late July this year.

Verify that ISS results can be reproduced

The Wentian and Mengtian modules focus on different research areas. The Wentian module was launched in July this year and is mainly aimed at space life science research, supporting the research on the growth, development, inheritance, aging and other response mechanisms of various plants, animals and microorganisms under space conditions; while the Mengtian module is mainly aimed at microgravity science research.

The Nature website reported that there are more than 20 small laboratories on the Tiangong space station, equipped with centrifuges, cooling chambers with temperatures as low as minus 80 degrees Celsius, high-temperature furnaces, multiple lasers and optical atomic clocks. These devices will be used to conduct experiments similar to those conducted on the International Space Station (ISS), including studying the effects of long-term stays in low-Earth orbit on astronauts' health, how to prevent fires in various materials, and the quantum properties of gases. Three facilities located outside the space station will help study the effects of cosmic radiation on plants and microorganisms.

De Sousa said the arrival of the new space laboratory meant researchers could repeat experiments conducted on the ISS to see if the results could be reproduced.

Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist at the Australian National University, told Nature that researchers from other countries can also enter the orbiting laboratory to "play around". Through a cooperative project with the United Nations, China has selected nine international experiments to go to this scientific outpost, which were developed by researchers from countries such as Japan, Russia, India and Mexico.

(Originally published in Science and Technology Daily, 2022-11-02, p. 04)