China to Launch 3 Astronauts to New Space Station: How to Watch

Who will be launching to space and why are they going?

Three men will be aboard Shenzhou 15: Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu. China chose its oldest and most experienced team of astronauts to run the just-completed space station for the next six months. Mr. Fei, the spaceflight commander, first went into space in 2005 and is 57 years old.

“I am very proud and excited to be able to go to space again for my country,” he said.

The first piece of the Tiangong space station, the Tianhe core module, was launched last year. Two uncrewed pieces of the orbital base, Wentian and Mengtian, were launched in separate flights in July and October, each docking with Tianhe, and completing construction of the space station.

The Tianhe core module has had trios of astronauts aboard it for short stints since last year. But the launch on Tuesday represents the beginning of continuous occupancy of the space station, with overlapping stays by two crews of astronauts. The three Shenzhou 15 astronauts will fly up to the space station and spend a week with the astronauts already there from Shenzhou 14 in a coordinated exchange of roles similar to what happens on the International Space Station. The Shenzhou 14 astronauts will then fly back to China while the Shenzhou 15 astronauts will stay aboard Tiangong until next May, when they will be replaced by another team.

Although the initial astronauts are all from China, officials said on Monday that they would welcome astronauts from other countries.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/29/world/asia/china-space-launch-astronauts.html