China has named the three astronauts because of fly on the Shenzhou 23 mission on Sunday (Might 24), together with Hong Kong’s first astronaut.
A Lengthy March 2F rocket is because of elevate off at 11:08 a.m. EDT (1508 GMT, or 11:08 p.m. Beijing time) on Sunday (Might 24) from the Jiuquan Satellite tv for pc Launch Heart within the Gobi Desert, sending the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft into orbit to dock with China’s Tiangong house station in low Earth orbit.
Aboard Shenzhou 23 shall be commander Zhu Yangzhu, pilot Zhang Zhiyuan and payload specialist Lai Ka-ying. Zhu flew for the primary time on the Shenzhou 16 mission in 2023, whereas Zhang and Lai, from China’s third and fourth batches of astronauts, shall be making their first journeys to house. The crew have been revealed at a press convention at Jiuquan on Saturday (Might 23).
Lai is about to grow to be Hong Kong’s first astronaut to fly to house, having beforehand labored within the Hong Kong Police Pressure earlier than being chosen as an astronaut candidate in 2024.
One other main first from the mission will see one Shenzhou 23 astronaut perform China’s first steady yr in orbit. The astronaut was not named, however a China Manned House Company consultant said that the pilot and payload specialist are in a position to carry out one another’s roles, suggesting that one of many two will keep for a full yr in house.
The prolonged keep for one astronaut will pave the way in which for yet one more first for the Shenzhou 24 mission, because of launch in six months’ time. Aboard shall be a Pakistani astronaut, who will spend a number of days aboard Tiangong earlier than returning to Earth on the outbound Shenzhou 23 car, taking the seat of the astronaut chosen to remain for a full yr in orbit.
Hours after launch, the Shenzhou 23 crew shall be greeted aboard Tiangong by Shenzhou 21 astronauts Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang, who’re finishing an prolonged seven-month-long mission and shall be returning to Earth on the finish of the month.
Shenzhou 23 additionally options enhanced safety for its portview home windows, in response to harm to the Shenzhou 20 spacecraft’s window by a suspected particles influence. The incident triggered an emergency response, seeing the Shenzhou 20 crew return to Earth aboard the Shenzhou 21 spacecraft for security causes, and the uncrewed Shenzhou 22 launched to function a lifeboat and trip house for the Shenzhou 21 crew.
The Shenzhou 23 mission follows shortly after the launch of the Tianzhou 10 cargo spacecraft, which arrived at Tiangong on Might 11, delivering almost 7 tons of provides. The Shenzhou 21 crew will return to Earth on Might 29, after handing over management of Tiangong to the incoming Shenzhou 23 astronauts.
