China’s subsequent human spaceflight mission is on its means into orbit.
A Lengthy March 2F rocket topped with the Shenzhou 19 crew spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite tv for pc Launch Middle as we speak (Oct. 19) at 4:27 p.m. EDT (2027 GMT; 4:27 a.m. Oct. 30 Beijing time), rising into an evening sky above the spaceport.
Aboard are commander Cai Xuzhe, 48, who was a member of the Shenzhou 14 mission, and rookie astronauts Music Lingdong, 34, a former air power pilot, and Wang Haoze, additionally 34, a spaceflight engineer.
Shenzhou 19 is scheduled to rendezvous and dock on the Tiangong area station round 6.5 hours after launch. The astronaut trio are set to spend six months in orbit aboard Tiangong, conducting a spread of experiments and embarking on quite a few extravehicular actions, or spacewalks.
Associated: China’s area station, Tiangong: A whole information
Mission commander Cai has already spent 182 days in area and carried out spacewalks and can lead his youthful counterparts.
“My two new teammates have been each born within the Nineties. Though there’s an age distinction between us, we share the identical aim: to serve our nation and win honor for it whereas working and striving collectively,” Cai mentioned throughout a press convention on the day earlier than launch.
“Through the mission, we are going to undertake arduous duties in area science experiments and area station administration. I’m primarily chargeable for area experiment initiatives, materials administration, and station operation,” Wang mentioned on the press convention. “I imagine that beneath the steerage of the mission commander and with seamless cooperation between us and the bottom crew, we are going to accomplish the mission efficiently,” she mentioned.
“We can have loads of extravehicular actions and new scientific experiments,” Music mentioned. Actions will embody putting in protecting gadgets towards area particles, and putting in and recycling extravehicular payloads and gear.
Lin Xiqiang, spokesperson for China’s human spaceflight company, CMSA, mentioned the astronauts are scheduled to hold out 86 scientific experiments.
“Through the Shenzhou 19 flight, the main target will probably be on the deliberate theme of ‘organic and bodily sciences in area,’ overlaying fields akin to area life science, primary physics of microgravity, area materials science, area medication and new area applied sciences,” Lin mentioned. These embody structural evaluation of protein crystal progress and non-equilibrium dynamics of soppy matter beneath microgravity situations.
Shenzhou 19 is the thirty third spaceflight mission beneath China’s human spaceflight program. These missions embody uncrewed check flights, crewed missions, launching Tiangong modules and smaller area lab precursor missions, next-generation crew spacecraft check flights, and Tianzhou cargo and refueling missions.
China can be making ready to ship the Tianzhou 8 cargo spacecraft to Tiangong to resupply and refuel the station. It would additionally carry new experiments and presumably cubesats for deployment into orbit. That mission will launch on a Lengthy March 7 rocket from the coastal Wenchang spaceport in November.
In the meantime, the incumbent Shenzhou 18 crew aboard Tiangong are making ready for his or her departure. The trio of Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu, who arrived at Tiangong in late April, will hand over management of the area station to Cai, Music and Wang. Ye and his colleagues will return to Earth round 1:00 p.m. EDT on Nov. 3 (1700 GMT; or 1:00 a.m. Beijing time on Nov. 4), touching down on the Dongfeng touchdown space close to Jiuquan.
Shenzhou 19 is China’s eighth crewed mission to the Tiangong area station. The three-module, T-shaped orbital outpost was constructed by way of three Lengthy March 5B launches throughout 2021 and 2022.
China intends to maintain Tiangong, which is roughly 20% as huge because the Worldwide House Station, completely occupied and operational for at the very least a decade. The nation additionally needs to develop the area station with new modules and open the outpost to business actions.
