China reveals Shenzhou 20 astronaut crew launching to Tiangong space station

China just unveiled the three astronauts set to launch aboard Shenzhou 20 to the Tiangong space station on April 24.

The Shenzhou 20 mission is due to launch on a Long March 2F rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 5:17 a.m. EDT (0917 GMT; 5:17 p.m. Beijing time) on Thursday, sending the spacecraft on a 6.5-hour journey to the Tiangong space station in low Earth orbit.

The crew were revealed by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) at a press conference at Jiuquan on Wednesday (April 23).

Commanding the mission will be Chen Dong, making his third flight to space and his second as a commander, having led the Shenzhou 14 mission to Tiangong in 2022.

"This will be my third mission, and I'm still incredibly excited," said Chen Dong, China Central Television (CCTV) reported. "On one hand, I feel immense pride and honor to once again embark on a space journey for my country. It is a great privilege and joy. On the other hand, I have greater expectations. Every spaceflight is unique, and I look forward to gaining more experience and making new breakthroughs during this mission."

He will be joined by Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, both of whom will be flying to space for the first time and come from China's third batch of astronauts, selected in 2020.

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Chen Zhongrui was an air force pilot before being selected as an astronaut, while Wang Jie was previously an engineer at the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the country's state-owned main space contractor.

The trio will spend around six months in orbit aboard Tiangong, according to Lin Xiqiang, spokesperson for the CMSA, following an established pattern for missions to the space station. Their activities will include extravehicular activities (EVAs), or spacewalks, conducting space science and application experiments, handling cargo deliveries, installing science payloads and equipment outside Tiangong and conducting popular science and outreach events.

The mission will be the ninth crew mission to Tiangong, and the sixth visit since the three-module orbital outpost was fully assembled in October 2022. Shenzhou 20 will be the fifth mission of what CMSA terms the application and development stage of China's space station.

Tiangong is currently inhabited by the Shenzhou 19 crew, who will greet the new astronauts aboard the space station. The Shenzhou 19 astronauts, led by commander Cai Xuzhe, will hand over control of Tiangong to the incoming Shenzhou 20 crew and return to Earth aboard the Shenzhou 19 spacecraft on April 29.