Wang Jie, Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, the three Chinese astronauts for the upcoming Shenzhou-20 spaceflight mission, met the press on Wednesday.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China is ready to launch the Shenzhou-20 crewed spaceship on April 24.
Liftoff is slated for 17:17 Thursday (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the country’s northwest, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced today.
CMSA revealed that that the Shenzhou-20 crew members are: Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie with Chen Dong as the commander.
The three astronauts will take over command of China’s Tiangong space station from the Shenzhou-19 crew currently in orbit, and will spend about six months in space.
Lin Xiqiang, CMSA spokesman.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Fast autonomous rendezvous
As reported by China Central Television (CCTV), Shenzhou-20 is the 35th flight mission of China’s human space program and the 5th crewed mission during the application and development stage of China’s space station.
Lin Xiqiang, CMSA spokesman, stated in a media event: “According to the plan, Shenzhou-20 spacecraft will execute the fast autonomous rendezvous and docking procedures after entering the orbit.”
Lin added that the spacecraft will dock with the forward port of the Tianhe core module in 6.5 hours to form a three-module and three-ship assembly.
Shenzhou-19 crew ready for trip homne.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Landing site
“During their stay, the Shenzhou-20 crew will welcome the coming and docking of Tianzhou-9 cargo ship and Shenzhou-21 manned spaceship,” Lin said. “The crew is planned to return to the Dongfeng landing site in late October.”
Chen Dong participated in the piloted spaceflight missions of Shenzhou-11 and Shenzhou-14, and two years after the Shenzhou-14 mission, he will serve as the commander again.
Space travel rookies, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, were selected from the third batch of Chinese astronauts. Chen was a former air force pilot before being selected as an astronaut, and Wang previously served as an engineer at the China Academy of Space Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
Meanwhile, the now-orbiting Shenzhou-19 crew is scheduled to return to the Dongfeng landing site on April 29 after the two crews complete the handover procedure in orbit.
Go to CCTV video at: https://youtu.be/Ux6PXzsAOAs?si=AtiOwUEvPivkHfiH
Also, crew press event at: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1ANvZUWGqh/
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