China unveils Shenzhou-14 crew for space station mission

People's Daily

Chinese astronauts Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe will carry out the Shenzhou-14 spaceflight mission, and Chen will be the commander, the China Manned Space Agency announced at a press conference Saturday.

The Shenzhou-14 crewed spaceship will be launched at around 10:44am on Sunday (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

After entering orbit, the spaceship will adopt fast automated rendezvous and docking with the radial port of the space station core module Tianhe, forming a complex with Tianhe as well as the cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-3 and Tianzhou-4, said Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the CMSA, at a press conference held at the launch center.

At present, the complex of Tianhe, Tianzhou-3 and Tianzhou-4 works in normal condition and is ready for rendezvous, docking and the astronauts' entry, Lin said.

The quality of both the Shenzhou-14 spaceship and the Long March-2F carrier rocket has been well checked. The crew is in good condition, and the ground system facilities are in stable operation, Lin said.

All preparations for the launch have been basically completed, Lin said.

The upcoming Shenzhou-14 crewed space mission will complete the construction of the Tiangong space station, with a basic three-module structure consisting of the core module Tianhe and the lab modules Wentian and Mengtian, according to the CMSA.

The mission will build the space station into a national space laboratory, said Lin.