China simply unveiled the crew that can launch on its Shenzhou 15 mission Tuesday (Nov. 29) and spend the following six months in space.
Commander Fei Junlong and crewmates Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu met the press on Monday (Nov. 28), only a day earlier than the scheduled launch of their spacecraft from Jiuquan within the Gobi Desert. China’s human spaceflight company, CMSA, is run by the nation’s army and usually retains the identification of its crews secret till near launch.
Shenzhou 15’s launch on a Long March 2F rocket is about for Tuesday at 10:08 a.m. EST (1508 GMT; 11:08 p.m. native time). You possibly can watch it stay right here at Area.com, courtesy of CCTV; protection begins at 6:30 a.m EST (1130 GMT).
Associated: The latest news about China’s space program
The trio will fly to the not too long ago accomplished Tiangong space station. They’ll be part of the Shenzhou 14 astronauts aboard Tiangong and full China’s first-ever and extremely anticipated crew handover in orbit.
Commander Fei Junlong, 57, is making his return to space after a 17-year wait. Fei was chosen amongst China’s first batch of astronauts in 1998 and commanded the five-day-long Shenzhou 6 mission in 2005.Â
Deng Qingming, 56, was additionally chosen to be a member of the primary technology of astronauts however has wanted to attend a very long time for his alternative to fly to space.
“As an astronaut, my regular form is to remain dedicated to the unique aspiration of spaceflight missions and by no means cease coaching, which can be my perspective,” Deng said (opens in new tab) in the course of the Nov. 28 press convention at Jiuquan.Â
“For me, I can spend my complete life getting ready silently, however I’ll by no means permit myself to be unprepared when the duty comes by,” mentioned Deng.
Zhang Lu, 46, can be making his first journey to space and is a part of China’s second batch of astronauts chosen in Could 2010.Â
“I am trying ahead to experiencing the great feeling in zero gravity and to finishing our space residence with our personal fingers,” Zhang mentioned.
The Shenzhou 15 crew — all of whom take pleasure in calligraphy as a passion, according (opens in new tab) to Chinese language media — will spend six months in space conducting a spread of experiments and sustaining the space station.Â
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