Courtesy-AP News
According to a statement by China’s space agency, they have planned to send the first three crew members to its new space station on Thursday morning. Out of them, the third astronaut is going to space for the first time while the other two astronauts have flown in previous missions as told to the reporters at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwestern China by Ji Qiming, China Manned Space Agency Assistant Director on Wednesday.
On 29th April the main section of the Tianhe or Heavenly Harmony, station was launched into orbit. Conducting spacewalks, science experiments and maintenance work, the three men heading to the station shall live there for three months. A Long March-2F Y12 rocket will be launching the Shenzhou-12 spaceship in which the astronauts will be travelling. The blast-off will be at 9:22 am (0122 GMT) Thursday.
To build and maintain the station around 11 such missions are planned by the end of next year and send up crew members along with supplies. The other two modules of the station are due to be launched next year.
In five years this is the first crew Chinese mission. Since becoming the third country to do so in 2003, China has sent 11 astronauts into space, all of them being pilots from the ruling Communist Party’s military wing, the People’s Liberation Army. Women shall be a part of future crews on the station, though the first Tianhe crew will be all-male as said by the officials. For much larger International Space Stations, the Tianhe shall be allowed for stays of up to six months in future.