"Dream Mission"; China Launches 3 Astronauts To Tiangong Space Station
China sends three astronauts, including the country’s only woman spaceflight engineer on a “dream” mission to the Tiangong space station. The new team will carry out experiments with eyeing the space programme’s ambitious goal of placing astronauts on the Moon by 2030 and eventually constructing a lunar base.
The Shenzhou-19 mission took off at 4:27 am (2027 GMT Tuesday) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, said state news agency Xinhua and state broadcaster CCTV.
The crew include Wang Haoze, 34, who is China’s only female spaceflight engineer, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). She is the third Chinese woman to take part in a crewed mission.
The team will return to Earth in late April or early May next year, CMSA Deputy Director Lin Xiqiang said at a separate press event confirming the launch.
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The team is led by Cai Xuzhe, a 48-year-old former air force pilot. He have previous experience from a stint aboard Tiangong as part of the Shenzhou-14 mission in 2022.
“Having been selected for the new crew, taking on a new role, facing new tasks and new challenges, I feel the honour of my mission with a great responsibility,” said Cai.
He also added that the crew was now “fully prepared mentally, technically, physically and psychologically” for the mission ahead. 34-year-old man Song Lingdong is also among the team.
The crew currently aboard the Tiangong space station is scheduled to return to Earth on November 4 after completing handover procedures with the incoming astronauts, Lin said.
Under President Xi Jinping, China has ramped up plans to achieve its “space dream”. The country’s space programme was the third to put humans in orbit. Beijing also landed robotic rovers on Mars and the Moon.
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Tiangong space station is the Dream Mission’s crown jewel. It is crewed by a team of three astronauts, who are roared every six months.
Beijing says it is all set to send a crewed mission to the Moon by 2030, where it intends to construct a base on the lunar surface.
The Shenzhou-19 crew’s time aboard Tiangong will see them carry out various experiments, including some involving “bricks” made from components imitating lunar soil, reported Chinese media CCTV.
These items — to be delivered to Tiangong by the Tianzhou-8 cargo ship in November — will be tested to see how they fare in extreme radiation, gravity, temperature and other conditions.
Due to the high cost of transporting materials into space, Chinese scientists hope to be able to use lunar soil for the construction of the future base, said the report.
(With inputs from agencies)
