It’s a major achievement for China’s space program.  The third and final lab module blasts into space to dock with its permanent home, the Tiangong space station.

It’s been years in the making but this week, China’s space station is finally complete.  On Thursday, Chinese taikonauts aboard the Tiangong space station were able to enter the Mengtian lab module and explore their new wing. The Shenzhou-14 crew shared the pride and excitement of the country.

The Mengtian lab module is designed to study fundamental physics and microgravity and could be used to develop quantum technologies. 

Joining the discussion:

• Amitabha Ghosh is a space scientist who has been working on NASA Mars missions since 1997. 
• Keith Cowing is the Editor of NASA Watch dot com and a former rocket scientist. 
• John Zarrella is a distinguished journalist who covers the U.S. space program. 
• Xu Yansong is the Director-General of the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization in Beijing. 

The uncrewed Mengtian, the last of the three modules of China's under-construction space station, successfully docked, forming a T-shape alongside the main living quarters, which was launched in 2021 https://t.co/lx2olxUhV7 pic.twitter.com/ZMS2uPp6cU

— Reuters (@Reuters) November 1, 2022

What’s inside the 8 cabinets in Chian’s second space lab module Mengtian? What is a space-based cold atomic clock system? https://t.co/BybvdIuYv9

— CGTN America (@cgtnamerica) October 31, 2022