China's Shenzhou-19 crew paid tribute to all those who have dedicated themselves to the space industry on Thursday -- the country's 10th Space Day, and expressed their expectations for the upcoming manned space mission.
The crew, Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze, have been in orbit for about six months. They conducted three spacewalks and six payload transfer tasks in and out of the spacecraft, and set a world record for the longest single spacewalk by astronauts, lasting nine hours.
Crew commander Cai Xuzhe has completed five spacewalks, making him by far the Chinese astronaut with the highest number of extravehicular activities (EVAs).
China's Space Day marks the launch of its first satellite, "Dongfanghong-1," into space on April 24, 1970.
"Today is China's Space Day, a day that all the Chinese people will remember forever. Fifty-five years ago, the Long March-1 rocket soared into space, sending 'The East is Red' song resounding throughout the universe, and the Chinese people took solid steps in their journey to explore the vast universe," said Cai.
Astronaut Song Lingdong became the first Chinese astronaut born after 1990 to carry out EVAs. He stressed the importance of achieving self-reliance and strength in science and technology.
"Only by being self-reliant and strong can we stand up straight. In China's own space station, I feel more deeply about the significance of 'keeping our future in our own hands'," said Song.
As China's first female space engineer to work in the country's space station, astronaut Wang Haoze is steadfast in pursuing China's lunar exploration dream.
"As the dream of flying into space is already realized, is it far to reach the dream of landing on the Moon? We Chinese always mean what we say. The tougher our road ahead is, the stronger we will be," said Wang.
China is set to launch the Shenzhou-20 crewed spacecraft at 17:17 on Thursday (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. Three astronauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie will carry out the mission.
"We will fulfill the dream of landing on the Moon in our space exploration. On this special day, we wish our great motherland peace and prosperity! We wish more success to our aerospace industry! We wish the Shenzhou-20 a successful launch! We look forward to meeting our brothers of the Shenzhou-20 crew in the Tiangong space station," said the crew members.
China's Shenzhou-19 space crew is scheduled to return to Earth on April 29.
Shenzhou-19 crew extends blessings on Space Day
