Three astronauts will spend half a year in orbit around our planet
China is preparing to send three astronauts on a six-month mission into orbit – a new one cornerstone in the country’s space program, which has progressed rapidly in recent years, the Associated Press, Reuters and TASS reported.
This will be the longest a Chinese manned space mission and will set a record for the most time spent in space by tycoons.
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The Shenzhou-13 spacecraft is expected to be launched with a Changzheng-2EF rocket from the Jiuquang Cosmodrome, on the border of Gansu Province and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
“We are preparing for the launch on October 16 at 00:23 local time“, said at a press conference the deputy head of the Office of China’s manned space flight program Lin Xixiang.
During their stay aboard the Chinese orbital station under construction, the tycoons are scheduled to take two or three space walks and conduct a series of scientific studies.
The first crew, who spent 90 days aboard the main module of the Tianhu space station, returned to Earth in mid-September.
The new crew includes two veterans of the Chinese space program. Pilot Zhai Zhigan, 55, is the first tycoon to go on a spacewalk. Tycoon Wang Yaping, 41, is the only woman on the mission.
She conducted experiments and conducted a real-time lesson during her participation in the Shenzhou-10 manned mission. The third member of the crew – Yi Guangfu, 41, will fly into space for the first time.
This will be the fifth mission to build the future Chinese space station. When ready, in addition to the main module, it will include two more modules. With them, its total weight will be 66 tons.
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