China launches, launches three astronauts, the new space station, March-2F, Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
China launches three astronauts to finish the new space station
Translate This News In

On Sunday, China launched a spacecraft carrying three cosmonauts to the Chinese space station, which is expected to be finished by the end of the year. A Long March-2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-14, or “Divine Vessel,” took off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China at 10:44 a.m. (0244 GMT), according to a live broadcast by state television. The first and largest of the space station’s three modules, Tianhe, the living quarters of visiting astronauts, was launched last year. Wentian and Mengtian will be launched in July and October, including both, and will dock with Tianhe to form a T-shaped structure.
Shenzhou-14 mission commander Chen Dong, 43, and team members Liu Yang, 43, and Cai Xuzhe, 46, all from China’s second batch of astronauts, will spend six months on the space station before coming back To earth in December with the entrance of the Shenzhou-15 crew.

READ:   IIT graduates became close on Wall Street. One turned on the other after that

Former air force pilot Chen will lead the rendezvous, docking, and integration of Wentian and Mengtian with the core module, alongside Liu, China’s first female astronaut in space a decade earlier, and space mission debutant Cai.

They will also install equipment within and without the space station, as well as conduct scientific research.

“The Shenzhou-14 mission is a crucial battle in the construction stage of China’s spaceship,” Chen said on Saturday at a press conference in Jiuquan. “The task will be more difficult, the problems will be more numerous, and the challenges will be greater.”