Wentian's small mechanical arm completes in-orbit tests

BEIJING -- The small mechanical arm mounted with Wentian, the first lab module of China's space station, has successfully completed in-orbit tests, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

With the support of the ground team, the small mechanical arm has completed a series of in-orbit function and performance tests. All indexes performed well, achieving expected results, said the CMSA.

The weight and length of the small mechanical arm are about half that of the 10-meter-long large mechanical arm on the core module Tianhe. It is quite flexible and can perform operations with greater precision.

The Shenzhou-14 crew will, for the first time, be aided by the small mechanical arm to carry out extravehicular activities.

The small arm can also be held with the large arm to form a combined arm that is capable of performing extravehicular operations with greater accuracy at a larger range.

China on July 24 launched the Wentian lab module, which consists of a work cabin, an airlock cabin and a resource cabin.