Having been well prepared with great operating ability and solid professional theories, China's Shenzhou-19 astronauts have said they are confident in fulfilling the upcoming spaceflight mission.
The Shenzhou-19 crewed spaceship is scheduled to be launched at 04:27 Wednesday Beijing Time (2027 GMT Tuesday) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, the China Manned Space Agency announced earlier at a press conference on Tuesday.
Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze, the three Chinese astronauts for the upcoming Shenzhou-19 spaceflight mission, will take over command of China's Tiangong space station from the Shenzhou-18 crew currently in orbit, and will spend the next six months in space.
The mission will be commanded by experienced astronaut Cai Xuzhe, who participated in the Shenzhou-14 manned spaceflight mission, while Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze, from among the third batch of Chinese astronauts, will carry out a spaceflight for the first time.
"These two astronauts are very young, bringing vitality to our crew, and they are well prepared. As a fighter jet pilot before becoming an astronaut, Song Lingdong is capable of conducting operations standardly. Moreover, he can discover problems in the process of operation in time, and make analysis from different perspectives to solve them. As China's first female space flight engineer, Wang Haoze has a relatively solid theoretical foundation and is familiar with the flight manual. In the training process, especially for some new projects, there may be some new problems in the operation. She can find out the problems and put forward her own improvement suggestions on the manual to prevent possible error in operation," Cai said in an interview with China Central Television. "Astronaut 01 has the experience of the successful flight of Shenzhou-14, as well as a lot of experience working in the space station, which he passes on to us during the training," Wang said.
"Astronaut 01 is a very sincere and straightforward person with rich flight experience. He has a great ability for operation, and is capable of dealing with problems comprehensively, and grasping key points quickly. I think working with him is also very cooperative and efficient," Song said.
Both Song and Wang were born in the 1990s. Song was a former air force pilot before being selected as an astronaut, and Wang previously served as a senior engineer at the Academy of Aerospace Propulsion Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
Wang is currently China's only female spaceflight engineer and will become the third Chinese woman to embark on a crewed spaceflight mission, the agency noted.
"Astronaut 02 is a generalist, and he shared me a lot of operating experience during our daily work. Moreover, he has a stable state of mind to face emergency situation. As a result, he can keep calm to deal with any problems well," Wang said.
"Astronaut 03 is an outgoing and cheerful girl who loves to smile and is easy to get along with. Meanwhile, she works very seriously and hard. With a solid theoretical foundation, she has a great ability to study and is born with an unyielding spirit. For some operations which she is uncertain to conduct perfectly, she would practice several times or even dozens of times," Song said.
"I think we three are very united, both in training and in life. This year is the Year of the Dragon, which is my zodiac animal, and the zodiac animal for my two teammates is the Horse. Both the Dragon and the Horse have auspicious meanings in Chinese culture, and I hope our crew will fully demonstrate the spirit of Dragon-Horse (meaning "vigorous" in Chinese) to perfectly fulfill the flight mission," Cai said.
The new crew will have many tasks to complete, including conducting space science and application tests, performing extravehicular activities, installing protective devices against space debris, and installing and recycling extravehicular payloads and equipment. They will also engage in science education, public welfare activities, and other payload tests.
The Shenzhou-19 is the 33rd spaceflight mission of China's manned space program, and the 4th manned mission during the application and development stage of China's space station.
The Shenzhou-19 astronauts are scheduled to return to the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in late April or early May next year, according to the CMSA.
Shenzhou-19 crew confident in fulfilling spaceflight mission
