BEIJING: The Shenzhou-18 crewed spaceship will be launched at 8:59 p.m. Beijing Time on Thursday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced on Wednesday. Chinese astronauts Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu will carry out the Shenzhou-18 manned spaceflight mission to China’s space station, and Ye will be the commander.
Ye was also the crew member of China’s Shenzhou-13 mission. Both Li Cong and Li Guangsu are part of the country’s third-batch taikonauts, and the Shenzhou-18 mission will be their first flight mission.
They are scheduled to stay in orbit for about six months and return to the Dongfeng landing site in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in late October. During their stay in orbit, the Shenzhou-18 crew will receive the Tianzhou-8 cargo ship and the Shenzhou-19 crewed spaceship.
The Shenzhou-17 trio, who are currently working at the space station, will meet with the Shenzhou-18 crew before returning to the Dongfeng landing site on April 30.
The Shenzhou-18 crew will carry out multiple tasks, mainly including experiments and tests in space science and application, extravehicular activities (EVAs), cargo transportation, space debris shelters installation, extravehicular payloads and equipment installation and recovery, as well as popular science education and public welfare activities, to further improve the operation efficiency of the space station, according to Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the CMSA.
The taikonauts will perform two to three spacewalks and implement six cargo outbound deliveries through the cargo airlock module. During the EVAs, they will install space debris protection reinforcements for extravehicular pipelines, cables and critical equipment, and carry out inspections as appropriate to further safeguard the safety of the space station, said Lin. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
