China is set to launch three young astronauts to the space station in orbit from a base in the northwestern Gobi Desert after midnight on October 16.
According to the plan, the Shenzhou 13 mission will last for six months and include astronauts Zhai Zhigang, 55, Wang Yaping, 41, and Ye Guangfu, 41. They are the backup team from the recently concluded Shenzhou 12 mission. Wang became the first female astronaut from China to work on the core module Tianhe of the space station. This will be Wang’s second spaceflight, as she was a member of the Shenzhou 10 mission in 2013. Liu Yang, 43, an astronaut from the Shenzhou 9 mission in June 2012, was the first Chinese woman to fly into space.
The Long March 2F rocket will launch Shenzhou 13 at the Jiuquan Launch Center. (Photo: AFP)
The Shenzhou 13 crew has an average age six years younger than the participants in the previous mission, which included Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming, and Tang Hongbo. Nie’s team returned to Earth last month after spending three months on the space station. At 56, Nie is currently the oldest active astronaut in China.
Ye Guangfu participated in the European Space Agency’s (ESA) CAVES training program in 2016. This will be Ye’s first spaceflight. With fluent English, Ye is one of China’s key astronauts welcoming foreign colleagues as the Tiangong space station becomes fully operational.
On October 7, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced that the Shenzhou 13 spacecraft had been positioned at the Jiuquan Launch Center. According to CMSA, both the facility and equipment at the launch site are in good condition. Authorities will conduct various checks and tests before the launch.
Over the next six months, the Shenzhou 13 crew will assess the sustainability of technology on the space station during long-term stays, conduct additional spacewalks, perform detailed inspections of the robotic arm and spacesuits, and carry out scientific experiments. They may stay at the station longer than the Shenzhou 12 mission thanks to 6 tons of supplies and equipment delivered by the Tianzhou 3 cargo spacecraft earlier.
Shenzhou 13 will be the final launch of the CMSA this year to construct the Tiangong station. Two additional experimental modules will be sent to the station so astronauts can conduct more experiments in areas such as space medicine and biotechnology. China aims to complete the Tiangong station next year with two cargo missions and two crewed missions.
