1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,519 China's heavenly Palace. The Tianggong is the most advanced space station ever deployed by 2 00:00:05,519 --> 00:00:09,519 the human race, and that's a big deal, but it's not really something 3 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:13,679 that the people in the Western world really understand very well or even know that 4 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:18,559 much about. The Chinese have reinvented the space station for the twenty first century, 5 00:00:18,879 --> 00:00:22,600 and this is how they've done it. This is the space race. 6 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:27,120 The thing is, we've been putting space stations into orbit since the early nineteen 7 00:00:27,199 --> 00:00:31,440 seventies, but the Tianggong is the first one to stand out as something that 8 00:00:31,519 --> 00:00:36,320 looks more like science fiction than the status quo, which is essentially just a 9 00:00:36,359 --> 00:00:40,719 submarine in space. Did you know that the first space station ever deployed was 10 00:00:40,759 --> 00:00:46,039 a single module Soviet design from nineteen seventy one called the Salute, and then 11 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:50,640 two years later in nineteen seventy three, NASA topped that with their own station 12 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:56,079 named Skylab, which was built inside a hollowed out upper stage of the gigantic 13 00:00:56,119 --> 00:01:00,759 Saturn five moon rocket. But it was in nineteen eighty six that the world 14 00:01:00,799 --> 00:01:04,480 saw the deployment of the first ever modular space station, which the Soviets named 15 00:01:04,599 --> 00:01:10,040 mir It would take a decade to assemble the seven module mir station, and 16 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:12,959 even with the collapse of the Soviet Union coming right in the middle of the 17 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:18,959 project, the Russians would cement themselves as the leaders in space station development. 18 00:01:19,519 --> 00:01:23,200 So when we finally arrive at the International Space Station that we all know so 19 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:26,359 well today, we can see that it shares a lot of resemblance with Russia's 20 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:30,159 Mirror. In fact, given that the Russians had decades of experience with multiple 21 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:36,680 space stations and NASA had virtually zero practical knowledge, I don't think it's unfounded 22 00:01:36,719 --> 00:01:41,120 to look at the ISS more like a mir version two point zero, because 23 00:01:41,159 --> 00:01:45,120 it's pretty clear where this design approach came from. If we look back from 24 00:01:45,159 --> 00:01:49,280 Salue to Skylab to MIR to ISS, we're not exactly seeing a massive amount 25 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:55,319 of progress or evolution to the design. If anything, the Skylab really sticks 26 00:01:55,359 --> 00:01:59,079 out as being the nicest space station of the bunch, and that was literally 27 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:02,120 fifty years ago. The Soviet design aesthetic that carried over all the way to 28 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:07,159 ISS has a lot more in common with a submarine than the starship Enterprise. 29 00:02:07,319 --> 00:02:12,680 It's cramped, it's cluttered. There are pipes and wires and god knows what 30 00:02:12,759 --> 00:02:16,680 else sticking out from all angles. Now we flip forward to China's Tiangong, 31 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:23,039 and the difference is night and day. There are only about twenty years between 32 00:02:23,039 --> 00:02:27,879 the ISS and Tiangong, but it looks like a century worth of progress. 33 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:32,080 The Tiangong now consists of three modules, forming a T shaped space station fifty 34 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:38,439 five meters long and thirty nine meters wide that orbits around four hundred kilometers above 35 00:02:38,479 --> 00:02:42,719 the Earth's surface. The Tianha is the core command module, first launched in 36 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:46,759 April twenty twenty one. The Wenzan Experiment module serves as a combination of crew 37 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:52,039 quarters, research lab, and airlock, which was added in July twenty twenty 38 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:55,800 two. The Menxian module is a twin to the Wentzan and functions purely as 39 00:02:55,840 --> 00:03:00,199 a research and experiment space and join the station in November twenty twenty two. 40 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:07,000 As far as space stations go, this is an incredibly rapid pace of construction. 41 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,319 It took Russia and NASA two years just to get the ISS to a 42 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:15,680 state where it was habitable, and it was a ten year international endeavor for 43 00:03:15,759 --> 00:03:19,639 ISS to reach a state of completion. And while it might seem like this 44 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:23,800 station came out of nowhere. This is actually phase three of a plan that 45 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:28,240 China started all the way back in the nineties that they called Project nine two 46 00:03:28,319 --> 00:03:32,560 one. This is kind of like China's blueprint to conquer space. Phase one 47 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:38,319 of the plan was the development and launch of a crew capable rocket and spacecraft. 48 00:03:38,639 --> 00:03:42,080 These would be the Long March to f and the Shenzhou, which both 49 00:03:42,159 --> 00:03:46,560 launched for the first time in nineteen ninety nine. The Long March series of 50 00:03:46,639 --> 00:03:50,919 rockets take their name from Mao Zidong's history as a war hero and leader of 51 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:54,840 the People's Red Army. The name Shechenzhou means divine vessel. By two thousand 52 00:03:54,879 --> 00:04:00,479 and three, this system had put the first Chinese taikonat into low Earth orbit 53 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:03,599 on the Sheenzo five mission. This began phase two of the plan, which 54 00:04:03,759 --> 00:04:09,759 was essentially a practice phase. By Shechenzo seven, the Chinese had performed their 55 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:15,240 first spacewalk using their own extra vehicular suits. Following that, the country began 56 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:19,279 to deploy test modules that were like miniature space stations. Chinese crews would make 57 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:25,519 their first extended stays in space and practice docking maneuvers between the test modules and 58 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:30,600 the Shenzho. This time also marked the development of China's Tianjo spacecraft or Heavenly 59 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:35,600 Ship, which is a cargo transport vehicle with a carrying capacity of sixty five 60 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:41,439 hundred kilograms. This spacecraft was designed to fly on the new Long March seven 61 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:45,839 rocket, a modern replacement for the two F that was first launched in twenty 62 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:49,199 sixteen. Phase three of the plan is where we are at right now, 63 00:04:49,399 --> 00:04:55,680 the development and assembly of a new space station, the Tiangong or Heavenly Palace. 64 00:04:56,199 --> 00:05:00,079 So why does China feel so strongly about creating their very own space station. 65 00:05:00,439 --> 00:05:02,920 Well, for one, because it's really cool. Who wouldn't want their 66 00:05:02,959 --> 00:05:08,800 own personal hangout in space? But for two also it probably has to do 67 00:05:08,879 --> 00:05:14,319 with the Chinese being banned from the International Space Station, which is obviously counterintuitive 68 00:05:14,319 --> 00:05:17,439 to the literal name of the station, But in twenty eleven, the United 69 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:23,839 States decided that China was prohibited from visiting the station. The Chinese ban was 70 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:28,519 specifically rolled out through a Department of Defense Act passed in the US Congress, 71 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:32,680 which stipulated that NASA may not use their funding to collaborate in any way with 72 00:05:33,079 --> 00:05:39,240 China. The reasons given focused around human rights issues and national security. But 73 00:05:39,519 --> 00:05:43,600 more than anything, the US was afraid that China would steal their ideas or 74 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:46,759 spy on them, or something to that effect, which is a reasonable concern 75 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:51,199 given that both the US and China have been heavily involved in a ton of 76 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:56,319 shady spy stuff for the better part of a century, and that's created a 77 00:05:56,360 --> 00:06:00,279 lot of paranoia. Anyway, the Chinese decided, to hell with them, 78 00:06:00,319 --> 00:06:02,839 We'll build our own, and here we are. The first thing that you'll 79 00:06:02,879 --> 00:06:08,959 notice about the interior of the Tiangong is that it looks spacious and wide open, 80 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:14,120 especially compared to the ISS. Tiangong has a very minimalist modern design. 81 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:18,920 What's interesting is that the outer diameter of the Tiangong modules are nearly the exact 82 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:24,800 same as the diameter of the ISS modules, about four point two meters or 83 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:30,120 fourteen feet across, so the difference is in the volume of internal space available. 84 00:06:30,439 --> 00:06:32,680 There are a few reasons for that. For one, the ISS modules 85 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:39,160 are typically much shorter, with more connection points in between that create bottlenecks in 86 00:06:39,199 --> 00:06:43,079 the structure. For example, the Destiny lab on the ISS, which is 87 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:47,240 the primary operating facility for US astronauts, is eight point four meters or twenty 88 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:51,720 eight feet long, while the Weenzan and men Tian modules are both eighteen meters 89 00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:57,519 or fifty nine feet in length. And for two, the technology on Tiangong 90 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:00,920 is just much more modern and their or smaller and able to fit into a 91 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:06,199 smaller space. For example, many of the systems on Tangong will connect wirelessly 92 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:11,360 instead of having to run a labyrinth of cables around like what we see on 93 00:07:11,399 --> 00:07:15,079 the ISS. Also, much of the technology on the Tiangong is hidden behind 94 00:07:15,079 --> 00:07:18,680 these plane white panels when not in use. I don't know if that's more 95 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:23,920 functional or just aesthetic, or if they straight up don't want anyone else to 96 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:27,240 be able to see what they're working on, but it does make the station 97 00:07:27,399 --> 00:07:32,000 look very clean and modern. The first module of Tangong successfully reached orbit in 98 00:07:32,079 --> 00:07:35,839 April of twenty twenty one. This core structure is called the tan Ho, 99 00:07:36,079 --> 00:07:41,959 which means harmony of the heavens. The Tanha is a twenty ton structure with 100 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:46,240 a maximum diameter of four point two meters and contains everything necessary for a functional 101 00:07:46,279 --> 00:07:50,519 space station that can support a crew of three. It has solar panels, 102 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:57,079 propulsion systems, life support, a robotic arm and a sophisticated docking node and 103 00:07:57,199 --> 00:08:01,000 airlock. There are three main sects to the core module. Starting at the 104 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:05,519 smaller end, there is a spherical multi docking node. This has four ports, 105 00:08:05,519 --> 00:08:09,720 with one obviously being permanently attached to the tanha. The port opposite to 106 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:13,319 the core module is the main docking port for the station. This is where 107 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:18,360 the Schenjo crew vehicle can dock. The two side ports on the multi docking 108 00:08:18,399 --> 00:08:22,639 node are berthing ports for the twin research labs to the core module. The 109 00:08:22,639 --> 00:08:26,639 bottom port on the node is a second crew docking port. This is for 110 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:31,600 use during crew handovers when two groups of three taikonots are occupying the station simultaneously, 111 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:37,120 and the top port is actually not a docking port at all, it's 112 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:41,960 a hatchway. This is for the crew to exit the station and perform spacewalks. 113 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:46,480 Moving up to the narrow cylindrical section of tanha, this is the crew 114 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:50,440 quarters. There are individual bunks for three crew members and all of the necessary 115 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:56,440 facilities like the space toilet, and then at the wider end of the core 116 00:08:56,519 --> 00:09:01,919 module is a working area with three experimental rack This is also where the propulsion 117 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:05,440 section for the station is located. This maintains orbital control, and lastly, 118 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:09,840 there is another docking port at the end of the module that is specifically for 119 00:09:09,919 --> 00:09:15,919 the Tianjo cargo craft. This is also a future docking port for the Chinese 120 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:20,039 Space Telescope. The Tanha is also the module that supports the station's main robotic 121 00:09:20,159 --> 00:09:24,919 arm, which is ten meters in length. It's a little shorter than the 122 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:28,360 Canada ARM two that is currently in operation at the ISS, which is seventeen 123 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:33,960 meters long, but the Chinese arm does have a similar capability and the possibility 124 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:37,679 for expansion. More on that in a bit. The next title is the 125 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:41,440 Wenzan Module. On July twenty fourth, twenty twenty two, China launched their 126 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:48,559 Wenzan Research Laboratory module for the Tiangong. The name Wenzan translates as Heavenly Quest. 127 00:09:48,919 --> 00:09:52,039 This is another twenty ton structure that was deployed on the Long March five 128 00:09:52,159 --> 00:09:58,120 B rocket. This is China's first heavy lift space launcher and is responsible for 129 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:01,799 getting the three modules of the Tango into their four hundred kilometer high orbit. 130 00:10:03,279 --> 00:10:07,320 The Long March five B configuration is a really interesting rocket design. It uses 131 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:11,960 a hydrogen fuel burning core stage and is strapped with four liquid fueled side boosters 132 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:16,600 that burn RP one kerosene. This combination makes the Long March five B the 133 00:10:16,759 --> 00:10:22,759 third most powerful rocket currently in service around the world, behind the Falcon Heavy 134 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:26,559 at number one and the Delta four Heavy. The process that this particular rocket 135 00:10:26,639 --> 00:10:31,639 uses to put these twenty ton payloads into their orbital path is pretty unique and 136 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:37,360 very controversial. So once the rocket clears Earth's atmosphere, which happens at about 137 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:43,000 one hundred kilometers in altitude, those four side boosters will drop off, but 138 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:46,919 the core booster engine will continue to burn. A typical rocket will have a 139 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:52,120 full stage separation at this point, where the entire lower section of the rocket 140 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:56,320 will detach and fall back down to Earth, where it usually splashes into the 141 00:10:56,360 --> 00:11:00,559 ocean and again. On a typical rocket, a second stage engine will then 142 00:11:00,639 --> 00:11:03,720 fire up to propel what's left of the rocket and the payload into the orbital 143 00:11:03,759 --> 00:11:09,960 insertion. The Long March five B doesn't do that. After the foreside boosters 144 00:11:09,039 --> 00:11:13,559 drop off, the rocket stays whole and the core booster engines propel the module 145 00:11:13,919 --> 00:11:20,080 all the way to its orbital insertion point before finally separating. That means the 146 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:24,960 majority of the rocket structure is now in orbit, so it won't just fall 147 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:28,240 straight back down into the ocean. But it's not in a stable orbit either, 148 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:31,720 so it won't stay up there for too long. It's going to circle 149 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:35,879 the Earth for a few days as it slowly loses altitude and gets pulled back 150 00:11:35,919 --> 00:11:41,080 into the atmosphere. Now, these are just too big to vaporize like a 151 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:43,840 regular satellite. It doesn't stay whole, but chunks are going to make it 152 00:11:43,879 --> 00:11:48,320 all the way down to the surface of the Earth. And that's why this 153 00:11:48,399 --> 00:11:52,440 particular long March five B booster stage broke up over the Indian Ocean and rain 154 00:11:52,519 --> 00:11:58,320 down scrap metal over the islands of Indonesia. Anyway, the Wenzian module serves 155 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:03,720 dual purpose on the space station. It has an additional three crew sleeping quarters 156 00:12:03,879 --> 00:12:07,080 that bring the total capacity of the station up to six people at once, 157 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:13,200 and it also provides space for a variety of scientific experiments. It also houses 158 00:12:13,279 --> 00:12:18,200 two giant solar panels that give the module a fifty five meter wingspan from tip 159 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:22,720 to tip. These are state of the art solar cells that are super thin 160 00:12:22,799 --> 00:12:26,240 and flexible to maximize the amount of surface area that could be deployed. There 161 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:31,720 are also extremely efficient and generate around seven kilowatts of electricity for the station. 162 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:37,519 There are four experimental rack spaces on the WENCN containing research projects on life sciences, 163 00:12:37,799 --> 00:12:43,960 biotechnology, and variable gravity effects. Then, moving towards the smaller end 164 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:48,840 of the module, there is a space for external experiments. This is basically 165 00:12:48,919 --> 00:12:52,279 a section where they can attach nodes to the outside hull of the ship to 166 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:56,720 collect data and crew can access the external attachment points through the airlock and hatch 167 00:12:56,799 --> 00:13:01,720 on the WENCN. This will become the primary airlock of the station for spacewalks, 168 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:07,639 and the crew can also access these attachment points using a secondary robotic arm 169 00:13:07,879 --> 00:13:11,120 that comes with the NZN. This one is just five meters in length. 170 00:13:11,159 --> 00:13:15,879 But the cool thing about this arm is that it can actually crawl around the 171 00:13:15,879 --> 00:13:20,120 station and operate from different locations. So there are multiple attachment points for the 172 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:24,879 arm around the station, and to crawl, the arm just grabs onto the 173 00:13:24,919 --> 00:13:28,639 next attachment point and then lets go of the previous attachment point. It can 174 00:13:28,759 --> 00:13:33,600 just keep repeating this maneuver all around the station like a kind of weird robotic 175 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:39,759 caterpillar thing. What's more, this secondary arm can actually link up with the 176 00:13:39,799 --> 00:13:43,600 main arm to form one fifteen meter long robotic arm that would essentially match the 177 00:13:43,639 --> 00:13:48,960 size and capability of the Canada arm iiO on the ISS. The third and 178 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:54,639 final big piece of the puzzle is called the Mentian or Heavenly Dream. This 179 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:58,720 is another research laboratory module that arrived at Tiangong in October twenty twenty two. 180 00:14:00,159 --> 00:14:03,320 The Manxian is going to be very similar to the NCIAN, with the biggest 181 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:07,840 difference being that Megxian doesn't have any crew sleeping quarters, so it offers more 182 00:14:07,879 --> 00:14:13,879 space for experimental racks. Also, the Manxian is equipped with its own airlock 183 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:18,960 that will function as a secondary cargo port. The Menxian also has its own 184 00:14:18,039 --> 00:14:22,519 giant solar panel array, identical to the NCN, So the addition of the 185 00:14:22,519 --> 00:14:28,559 third module has fully energized the station and brought it up to full functionality. 186 00:14:28,039 --> 00:14:33,279 And then there's the Chinese Space Telescope. All we know is that it is 187 00:14:33,399 --> 00:14:37,919 currently in development and will likely have similar capabilities to the Hubble Telescope. This 188 00:14:39,039 --> 00:14:43,480 is designed to operate independently from the Tiangong. It will orbit close by, 189 00:14:43,759 --> 00:14:46,960 but it's not an attached section of the station. The telescope will have the 190 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:52,399 capability to dock with the Tiangong so that it can be easily serviced and upgraded 191 00:14:52,399 --> 00:14:56,639 over time, which is something that can't easily be done with the Hubble and 192 00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:01,120 is virtually impossible to do with James Webb, So that is a big advantage. 193 00:15:01,279 --> 00:15:05,440 Beyond that, we already have word that China is considering another expansion to 194 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:11,840 the Tiangong. At a recent meeting of the International Astronautical Congress, Chinese officials 195 00:15:11,879 --> 00:15:18,120 revealed plans to expand the Tiangong station from three modules to six. China plans 196 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:22,840 to launch a new multifunctional expansion module sometime in the coming years. They believe 197 00:15:22,879 --> 00:15:28,720 that additional full sized modules will begin to join that station in around four years 198 00:15:28,799 --> 00:15:33,399 time. As it stands, there will be a limited number of international research 199 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:39,000 projects arriving at Tiangong in collaboration with the United States Office for Outer Space Affairs 200 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:43,519 and the European Space Agency, so that's a great start. But with the 201 00:15:43,559 --> 00:15:48,519 relatively small size right now of the Tiangong, we're not likely to see international 202 00:15:48,519 --> 00:15:52,120 crew members up there for a visit, though an expansion in the future could 203 00:15:52,279 --> 00:15:56,320 change that. We definitely won't be seeing any Americans involved with the Tiangong. 204 00:15:56,600 --> 00:16:00,080 The same Wolf Amendment that prevents the Chinese from ever visiting the ia SAS works 205 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:06,480 both ways and would prohibit American astronauts from having anything to do with the Chinese 206 00:16:06,519 --> 00:16:10,679 station. So hopefully that's helped everyone to get a better picture of how the 207 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:15,360 Tiangong operates and what's going on up there. This information is very hard to 208 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:18,120 come by, and that's really unfortunate. Hopefully there's going to be a day 209 00:16:18,159 --> 00:16:22,600 where global political tensions cool off and we can all work together and stuff. 210 00:16:22,759 --> 00:16:26,200 Of course, given the current situation and based on whatever is happening right now 211 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:30,960 around Taiwan, that clearly won't be the case anytime soon, So this will 212 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:32,720 have to do for now.