Chinese astronaut Wang Jie, a crew member of China's upcoming Shenzhou-20 spaceflight mission, expressed confidence that his professional experience as an aerospace engineer will be instrumental in ensuring the successful completion of mission objectives during a press conference held on Wednesday.
Wang will carry out the mission along with Chinese astronauts Chen Dong and Chen Zhongrui, with Chen Dong serving as commander, the China Manned Space Agency announced at a press conference on Wednesday.
The Shenzhou-20 crewed spaceship is scheduled to be launched at 17:17 Thursday (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, said Lin Xiqiang, spokesman of the agency.
The three Chinese astronauts met the press on Wednesday at the launch center, located in northwest China.
Born in 1989, Wang Jie comes from the third batch of astronauts and will embark on his first spaceflight mission. Before being selected, Wang was an engineer at the China Academy of Space Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
Speaking at the press conference, he recalled how his passion for spaceflight was ignited in 2003, when the re-entry capsule of Shenzhou-5 returned to Earth and landed safely in Wang's home region of Inner Mongolia, carrying Yang Liwei--China's first astronaut.
"Looking back on my journey, the greatest lesson is that life must have dreams. When personal aspirations align with national development, and one dedicates oneself to achieving them, every effort shines brightly. On October 16, 2003, Yang Liwei successfully returned to the Earth aboard the Shenzhou-5 spacecraft, landing safely in my home of Inner Mongolia. This historic mission fulfilled the Chinese nation's millennia-long aspiration for space exploration, sparking nationwide celebration and pride. This event profoundly influenced me. I felt that astronauts were mysterious and sacred. From then on, I developed a yearning for space exploration. During my university years, I pursued a major in aerospace engineering, and upon graduation, I embarked on a career as a space technology professional," Wang said.
Recognizing the complexity and critical nature of the mission, the astronaut emphasized that he has systematically studied and leveraged past experiences of Chinese spaceflights and engaged in rigorous training for extravehicular activities, equipment maintenance, and system repairs. Through this process, he has thoroughly mastered the operational principles of each system while gaining an in-depth understanding of their interdependencies.
"As an aerospace flight engineer, I am mainly responsible for platform care, equipment maintenance and repair, emergency fault handling, and space science experiments, such as new technologies for automatic protection plus human-machine collaboration. Although our crew has different roles, we are a close-knit team. For every operation and every experiment, we serve as backups for each other and complete tasks through cooperation. We believe that under the leadership of our commander and with the full support of the ground research team, our crew will surely maintain high-spirits, closely cooperate, and precisely operate to manage, use and maintain our home in space, making new achievements in the new era with concrete actions," said Wang.
Shenzhou-20 is the 35th flight mission of China's manned space program and the fifth crewed mission during the application and development stage of China's space station.
The crew is scheduled to return to the Dongfeng landing site in north China in late October this year.
Young Shenzhou-20 astronaut confident in fulfilling spaceflight mission objectives
Young Shenzhou-20 astronaut confident in fulfilling spaceflight mission objectives
