China prepares for launch of 3-person space station replacement crew

JIUQUAN – China was making last preparations for the motorboat connected Thursday of a three-person replacement unit for its orbiting abstraction presumption that volition people a further measurement toward a imaginable crewed ngo to the Moon and exploration of Mars.

The Shenzhou 20 ngo is scheduled to blast disconnected Thursday evening from a motorboat halfway successful Jiuquan, connected the borderline of the Gobi Desert successful northwestern China.

The Tiangong, oregon “Heavenly Palace,” abstraction presumption has made China a large contender successful space, particularly since it was wholly Chinese-built after the state was excluded from the International Space Station implicit U.S. nationalist information concerns. China's abstraction programme is controlled by the People’s Liberation Army, the subject subdivision of the ruling Communist Party.

The summation of mechanical arms to the three-module presumption has besides raised concerns from immoderate that China could usage them to disable satellites oregon different abstraction vehicles during a crisis.

Since archetypal launching a antheral into abstraction successful 2003 — becoming lone the 3rd state to bash truthful — China's abstraction programme has precocious astatine a dependable pace. The abstraction bureau has besides landed an explorer connected Mars and a rover connected the less-explored acold broadside of the Moon, and aims to enactment a idiosyncratic connected the Moon earlier 2030.

The Shenzhou, oregon “Celestial Vessel,” 20 ngo volition beryllium commanded by Chen Dong, who is making his 3rd flight. He volition beryllium accompanied by combatant aviator Chen Zhongrui and technologist Wang Jie, some making their maiden voyages, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

They volition regenerate 3 astronauts presently connected the Chinese abstraction station. Like those earlier them, they volition enactment connected committee for astir six months.

The abstraction vessel is owed to beryllium launched into abstraction atop China's workhorse Long March 2F rocket astatine 5:17 p.m. section clip (0917 GMT) and scope the Tiangong astir 6.5 hours later.

The three-person unit was sent successful October past twelvemonth and they person been successful abstraction for 175 days. They are owed to instrumentality connected April 29 aft a little overlap with their replacements. The Tiangong, afloat assembled successful October 2022, tin accommodate up to six radical astatine a time.

While successful space, the astronauts volition behaviour experiments successful aesculapian subject and caller technologies and execute abstraction walks to transportation retired attraction and instal caller equipment, the Manned Space Agency said.

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