China unveils Shenzhou-19 crew for space station mission
Chinese astronauts Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze will carry out the Shenzhou-19 crewed spaceflight mission, and Cai will be the commander, the China Manned Space Agency announced at a press conference on Tuesday.
The Shenzhou-19 crewed spaceship is scheduled to be launched at 4:27am Wednesday (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, said Lin Xiqiang, spokesperson of the agency.
Cai completed the Shenzhou-14 space mission in 2022. Song and Wang, among the third batch of Chinese astronauts, are newcomers to space. Both of them were born in the 1990s.
Song was a former air force pilot before being selected as an astronaut, and Wang previously served as a senior engineer at the Academy of Aerospace Propulsion Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
Wang is currently China's only female space flight engineer and will become the third Chinese woman to embark on a crewed spaceflight mission, the agency noted.
The Shenzhou-19 astronauts will complete in-orbit rotation with the Shenzhou-18 trio and stay at the space station for approximately six months, witnessing the arrival of the Tianzhou-8 cargo craft and Shenzhou-20 crewed spaceship during the mission.
Many tasks await the new crew to complete: conducting space science and application tests, performing extravehicular activities, installing protective devices against space debris, installing and recycling extravehicular payloads and equipment. They will also engage in science education, public welfare activities, and other payload tests.
The Shenzhou-19 astronauts are scheduled to return to the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in late April or early May next year, according to the agency.
Future moon landing
China's fourth batch of astronauts is currently undergoing training for the country's space missions, including the future moon landing.
The 10 new astronauts, comprising eight space pilots and two payload specialists who are from the Hong Kong and Macau special administrative regions, will be engaged in a training regimen oriented for manned lunar landing missions, Liu said.
The trainees are scheduled to acquire skills in maneuvering spacecraft and operating lunar rovers, and master techniques of identifying celestial bodies and conducting geological survey.
Additionally, they will be trained to adapt to the unique conditions of the space, such as weightlessness in orbit and the challenges of moving with lunar gravity on the moon's surface, said Lin.
China has already initiated the lunar landing phase of its manned lunar exploration program, with a plan of manned lunar landing by 2030.
The fourth batch of astronauts started training in August, and has so far concentrated on the fundamental theories of manned space engineering and targeted physical training, as well as on-site learning, symposiums and lectures. Subsequently, they will proceed to engage in training tasks of more than 200 specific subjects under eight categories.
The training will also cover a set of skills tailored for life and work on the country's space station, as well as tasks of extravehicular activities, maintenance and repairs of equipment, and space science experiments, according to Lin.
Now, the two payload specialists from Hong Kong and Macau have become an integral part of the team, and they have exhibited a strong passion for training and maintained optimal physical and mental well-being, said Lin.
The pair of candidates have also received Mandarin courses, and a personalized meal plan has been created to accommodate their dietary preferences, according to Lin.
China's Shenzhou-19 astronauts will carry out 86 space science research and technology experiments.
CMSA spokesperson Lin disclosed that research will cover various fields including space life science, microgravity fundamental physics, space material science, space medicine and new space technologies.
The Shenzhou-19 crew will conduct structural analysis of protein crystal growth and non-equilibrium dynamics of soft matter under microgravity conditions, said Lin.
The astronauts are expected to advance frontier research into basic theories, the development of new materials, the physiological effect mechanism of space radiation and weightlessness, hypomagnetic biological effects and molecular mechanisms.
A report on the scientific research and application development of the space station Tiangong is slated for release on the second anniversary of its completion, said Lin.