The three Shenzhou-19 astronauts will carry out multiple extravehicular activities (EVAs) and dozens of space science experiments during their upcoming six-month mission, according to the trio, who have been well prepared and will be sent to China's Tiangong space station on Wednesday.
The Shenzhou-19 crewed spaceship is scheduled to be launched at 04:27 Wednesday (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, said the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on Tuesday.
Chinese astronauts Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze will carry out the mission, and Cai will be the commander, according to the agency.
Cai participated in the Shenzhou-14 manned spaceflight mission, while Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze, among the third batch of Chinese astronauts, are newcomers to space.
During their stay in space, the Shenzhou-19 crew will carry out multiple extravehicular activities to continue various tasks such as installing preventive devices against space debris for the space station and deploying and recycling payloads and platform equipment outside the space station.
"Our extravehicular tasks are mainly to protect the space station. As the space station orbits in space, it may be influenced or even impacted by micrometeoroids and space debris, so we need to protect some important pipelines and devices outside the space station," Wang said.
In addition, the three astronauts will conduct 86 space science research and technology experiments inside and outside the space station, including the structural analysis of protein crystal growth, and non-equilibrium dynamics of soft matter under microgravity conditions.
"Over half of the experiments are new or changed, and many of these research projects are very distinctive and interesting, so I'm looking forward to them. We have made a lot of careful and detailed preparations for these projects. I believe we will do a good job in performing these experiments, which embody the painstaking efforts of scientists," Cai said.
As the trio is new to many tasks and experiments, they have divided the work and prepared for their specific duties in a detailed manner during the training.
"We underwent some special trainings for these tasks and experiments and remedied our deficiencies until we mastered the basic moves. 01 (Cai) will assign specific tasks according to our specialties. I'll be responsible for space station management and equipment maintenance and repair," Song said. "For instance, I'm relatively more meticulous, so I will play the role of studying the manual and guiding their operations, while 01 (Cai) and 02 (Song) will take more responsibilities in operation. In this way, we all have a job to do. One reads the manual, one operates, and one reviews. This can ensure the project is completed successfully in one go," Wang said.
Shenzhou-19 crew to carry out multiple EVAs, dozens of experiments in space
