/sci/ - Science & Math

>>15239172
> HELSINKI — China is planning to expand its Tiangong space station with a multi-functional module to enhance its capabilities.

>China completed the construction of the three-module Tiangong space station last November, realizing a plan first approved in 1992.

>The operational phase of the station began with a first crew handover late last year. China plans to keep Tiangong permanently inhabited for at least a decade with crews of three spending six months at a time in orbit.

>Already though, new plans are emerging. “We will launch the expansion module of the space station at an appropriate time to further expand the size of the space station and enhance its capacity,” Ji Qiming, assistant to director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO), told CCTV Feb. 24.

>The expansion module appears to have superseded earlier an apparent plan to send up duplicates of the existing three, roughly 20-metric-ton modules.

>The multi-functional expansion module will host six docking ports and turn the T-shaped Tiangong into a cross-shaped configuration.

> The added ports will provide redundancy and allow more spacecraft to dock at Tiangong than present. This would also help facilitate plans to allow commercial spacecraft and tourist visits to the orbital outpost.

> Ji discussed the expansion plan with Chinese state media at an exhibition to mark three decades of China’s human spaceflight program. He also revealed progress on China’s plans to land astronauts around the end of the decade.