China has disclosed details of its future space station, following the construction of one of its key parts by engineers. The Chinese multimodule space station, named Tiangong, or Heavenly Palace, will be com-posed mainly of three parts - a core module attached to two space labs - having a combined weight of 66 metric tons, says Zhou Jianping, chief designer of the nation's manned space program. The station will become heavier with the gradual installation of equipment for experiments and docking by visiting spacecraft. It will be capable of docking with up to three spacecraft at a time. The designer says that once the station begins operations in orbit about 393 kilometers above Earth, it will have three astronauts on shifts lasting several months. During handovers between shifts, the station will accommodate up to six astronauts.
Source: China Daily
