Chinese ‘Tiangong’ Space Station: Shenzhou 21 & 23 Crew Members
China’s state-run CCTV reported, citing the manned space program office, that Shenzhou 23 was launched from Jiuquan in Gansu Province at 11:08 PM local time on the 24th and docked with the Tiangong Space Station at 2:45 AM on the 25th.
Shenzhou 23 is the seventh manned flight mission in the utilization and development phase of the Tiangong Space Station and the 40th mission in China’s manned space project overall.
This mission involves three participants: Commander Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan, and Hong Kong’s first female astronaut, Li Jiaying.
China explained that one of the crew members will stay for about a year, which is double the usual stay period, conducting over 100 scientific and application projects.
AFP news agency evaluated this long-term stay experiment as a significant step toward China’s goal of a manned moon landing by 2030.
Meanwhile, astronauts on Shenzhou 21, currently at Tiangong, are scheduled to return around the 29th aboard Shenzhou 22. China had previously launched the unmanned Shenzhou 22 for rescue and return purposes after discovering a crack in the window of the Shenzhou 21 spacecraft.
Reporter: Bae Sam-jin ([email protected])
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