THE Shenzhou-18 crewed spaceship is scheduled to  launch at 8:59 p.m. today from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced yesterday.

The spaceship will carry three astronauts — Ye Guangfu, Li Cong, and Li Guangsu — to carry out the Shenzhou-18 spaceflight mission, and Ye will be the commander, Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the CMSA, said at a press conference.

This will be the second space flight mission for Ye, who was a crew member of the Shenzhou-13 mission from October 2021 to April 2022. The other two Shenzhou-18 astronauts  are both newcomers to space.

Shenzhou-18 is the 32nd flight mission of China’s manned space program and the third manned mission during the application and development stage of China’s space station.

Major tasks

The crew will stay in orbit for about six months, and they are scheduled to return to the Dongfeng landing site in North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in late October.

After entering orbit, the Shenzhou-18 spaceship will perform a fast automated rendezvous and dock with the radial port of the space station core module Tianhe in about 6.5 hours, forming a combination of three modules and three spacecraft, Lin said.

During their stay in orbit, the Shenzhou-18 crew will witness the arrival of the Tianzhou-8 cargo craft and the Shenzhou-19 crewed spaceship, Lin said.

The crew will utilize the scientific experiment cabinets and extravehicular payloads to carry out more than 90 experiments in the fields of basic physics in microgravity, space material science, space life science, space medicine, and space technology.

The country’s first in-orbit aquatic ecological research project will also be implemented during the mission. Using zebrafish and goldfish algae to establish a self-cycling aquatic ecosystem in orbit, the project aims to make a breakthrough in the cultivation of vertebrates in space, Lin noted.

The world’s first in-orbit stem cell study on the plant’s stem tips will be conducted to explore plant evolutionary adaptation to gravity and provide theoretical support for space cropping, said Lin.

The Shenzhou-18 astronauts will carry out two to three extravehicular activities (EVAs) and implement six cargo outbound deliveries via the station’s cargo airlock module.

During the EVAs, the astronauts will install space debris protection reinforcements for extravehicular piping, cables, and critical equipment and carry out extravehicular inspections, as appropriate, to further ensure the safety of the space station, Lin said.

The Shenzhou-17 crew is scheduled to return to the Dongfeng landing site April 30 after completing an in-orbit work handover to the Shenzhou-18 crew, he added.

(Xinhua)