Beijing (TDI): China is set to launch the Shenzhou-20 crewed spacecraft on Thursday, China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) Spokesperson Lin Xiqiang announced on Wednesday.
Three taikonauts Chen Dong, Wang Jie and Chen Zhongrui will carry out the mission. Chen Dong, who has carried out the Shenzhou-11 and Shenzhou-14 missions, will be the commander, CMSA said.
Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie belongs to the third batch of Chinese taikonauts and are ready for their first spaceflight mission. Chen Zhongrui served as an air force pilot, while Wang worked as an engineer from China Academy of Space Technology.
Read More:Â Pakistan Seeks to Boost Space Ties with China
Presently, the preparations for the mission are underway, the spokesperson said at a media briefing. Shenzhou-20 is the 35th flight mission of the manned space program of China and the 5th crewed mission during the application and development stage of the country’s space station. The crew will be back to the Dongfeng landing site in the northern region of China in late October.
The major goals of the mission include completing an in-orbit rotation with the Shenzhou-19 crew, spending six months at the space, conducting experiments in space science and applications as well as performing extravehicular activities.
Read More:Â China to Train, Send Pakistani Astronauts into Space
Speaking about biological experiments aboard the mission, he said that previous experiments with zebrafish and fruit flies had been very successful. This mission will carry out three additional experiments involving planarian, zebra fish and streptomycetes as research objects.
