Three of China’s ancient astronauts are preparing to head to the Tiangong Space Station on the country’s eighth long-duration space flight.
Commander Tsai Xuezhe, along with Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze, will lead the approximately six-and-a-half hour Shenzhou 19 mission. They boarded the Long March 2F Y19 rocket and began refueling around 9:00 a.m. BJT on October 29 (0100 UTC, October 29, Japan time, 9:00 p.m. EDT, October 28).
The launch from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China is scheduled for 4:27 a.m. BJT on October 30 (4:27 p.m. EDT, October 29, 2072 UTC).
This is Xu Zhe’s second spaceflight, after flying on Shenzhou 14 in 2022. During the mission, the 44-year-old People’s Liberation Army Air Force pilot conducted one spacewalk, lasting just over four hours in total.
Not only will this be Haoze’s first space trip, but she will also be the first female spaceflight engineer from China to go into space, according to state media outlet China Global Television Network (CGTN). She also has the distinction of being the third woman from China to go into orbit, following Liu Yang and Wang Yaping.
This will also be Lindon, an Air Force pilot, his first space trip. Like Haoze, 34-year-old Lingdong also became a member of the 3rd Ancient Astronaut Group in 2020.
He spoke about his desire to eventually go to space in an interview with state news agency China Global Television Network (CGTN).
“Once I flew to an altitude of 20,000 meters at dawn and saw the curve of the Earth. Seeing the sunrise at that height made me feel both small and incredibly lucky.” Lyndon said. “I am thrilled to now have the opportunity to see the grandeur of the universe from the space station.”
The Shenzhou-18 mission trio, Ye Guangfu, Li Cong, and Li Guangsu, are scheduled to return from the TSS after a brief handover with the next Taiko astronaut.
