Year-ender: China's sci-tech achievements in 2022 (3)

The Mengtian lab module docks with China's Tiangong space station combination. [Photo/Xinhua]

Tiangong space station marks key step in assembly

On Nov 3, the Mengtian lab module of China's Tiangong space station carried out a crucial transpositioning operation, marking the completion of the Chinese station's in-orbit assembly, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

During the hour-long operation that finished at 9:32 am, Mengtian was moved from an axial port of the Tiangong station's Tianhe core module to a radial port on the core module.

The lab module is about 17.9 meters long, has a diameter of 4.2 meters and weighs more than 23 metric tons. It has 32 cubic meters of inner space that can be used by astronauts. The spacecraft consists of four sections – a crew working compartment, a payload section, an airlock cabin and a service module.

There are 13 scientific cabinets inside the craft to hold scientific equipment. It also carries 37 extravehicular payload adapters capable of carrying scientific experiments needed to be exposed to the space environment, cosmic rays, vacuum, and solar winds.