China launches three astronauts into space

China will send three astronauts into space on a record-breaking mission. It will be the longest Beijing has ever made: The crew will spend six months, 180 days, away from Earth. Shenzhou-13 is Dragon’s eighth space flight with astronauts on board. The Long March 2F rocket will take off on October 16 at 00:23 local time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, located in the Gobi Desert.

The spacecraft will carry three astronauts from the People’s Liberation Army (PLAAC) astronauts corps to the Tianhe Unit, which is the first section of the Tiangong orbital space station. The mission leader is Chai ZhigangThe 55-year-old is the first Chinese to walk in space. The other astronauts are: Wang YapingE, 41, the only woman who will conduct scientific experiments Yi Guangfu, 41, on his first flight.

Among the scheduled activities, there will be three tracks for the installation of equipment that will be used to expand the orbital station, the unit’s living conditions will also be checked, and medical experiments will be conducted.