JIUQUAN: Following an early morning launch into orbit on Wednesday, three Chinese astronauts, including the country’s only woman spaceflight engineer, entered the Tiangong space station.
Xinhua and state broadcaster CCTV reported that the Shenzhou-19 mission and its three space explorers launched at 4.27 a.m. from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China.
According to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), Wang Haoze, a 34-year-old Chinese spaceflight engineer, is a member of the crew. She is the third Chinese woman to participate in a mission with a crew.
According to the state news agency Xinhua, the crew arrived at 12:51 p.m. and met with the astronauts from the previous Shenzhou-18 mission, “starting a new round of in-orbit crew handover.”
The new Tiangong team will carry out experiments with an eye toward the space program’s goal of placing astronauts on the Moon by 2030 and eventually building a lunar base. The new Tiangong team will carry out experiments.
“Like everyone else, I dream of going to the space station to have a look,” Wang said to a media gathering on Tuesday with her fellow crew members, who were seated behind podiums and tall glass to keep the public out.
She stated, “I want to meticulously finish each task and protect our home in space.”
“I also want to travel deep into space and wave at the stars,” the dreamer said. According to Xinhua, the launch was deemed a “complete success” by the space agency, and approximately ten minutes after taking off, the spaceship separated from the rocket and entered its intended orbit.
The spacecraft had, according to Xinhua, “made a fast, automated rendezvous and docking with the front port of the space station’s core module Tianhe at 11am,” and the trio would then enter the module, the publication reported later.
“Honor of my mission”: CMSA Deputy Director Lin Xiqiang said at a separate press event before the launch that the team, led by Cai Xuzhe, will return to Earth in late April or early May next year. Cai, a former pilot in the air force who is now 48 years old, has previous experience aboard Tiangong during the Shenzhou-14 mission in 2022.
Cai stated, “I feel the honor of my mission with a great responsibility.” “Having been selected for the new crew, taking on a new role, facing new tasks and new challenges, I feel the honor of my mission.”
The industry veteran went on to say that the crew was now “fully prepared mentally, technically, physically, and psychologically” for the upcoming mission. Song Lingdong, 34, completes the astronaut roster.
According to Xinhua, the CMSA stated that the new and old crew will live and work together for approximately five days to complete planned tasks and handover work. It also stated that the crew of Shenzhou-18 is scheduled to return to Earth on November 4.
Under President Xi Jinping, China’s plans to realize its “space dream” have increased.
It was the third space program to send people into orbit, and it has also sent robotic rovers to Mars and the Moon.
