China to send astronauts to space station for final steps of construction
- Source says crew of three will blast off from the Gobi Desert on Sunday and will include Liu Yang, who was the first Chinese woman in space
- During their six-month mission they will oversee the installation of two laboratories, taking it from a single module to a T-shaped structure
The Shenzhou 14 is scheduled to blast off from the Gobi Desert at around 10.44am local time on Sunday, and the crew will include female astronaut Liu Yang, according to a source familiar with China’s manned space programme.
Liu was the first Chinese woman to go into space – on the Shenzhou 9 mission in 2012. She spent 13 days at the nation’s first space laboratory, Tiangong 1, where she was in charge of medical experiments.
The 43-year-old is also a veteran pilot and plays the clarinet, according to Chinese media reports. This will be her second mission into low-Earth orbit.
China has yet to announce the crew for the Shenzhou 14, but there has been speculation it could include Chen Dong, who is also 43 and spent 33 days at the country’s second space lab, Tiangong 2, during the Shenzhou 11 mission in 2016.
The Shenzhou 14 spacecraft and Long March 2F carrier rocket have been moved to the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Inner Mongolia and will go through checks and testing this week, according to the China Manned Space Agency website.