Today, China sent three astronauts as the country’s first crew to the new Tiangong space station, marking the country’s first manned spaceflight in nearly five years. The Shenzhou 12 mission was launched on the back of the Long March 2F rocket, which blasted off on time from Jiuquan at 9:22 a.m. Beijing time (which corresponds to 6:52 a.m. Indian Standard Time).
[Official] #Shenzhou12 astronauts: Nie Haisheng (middle), Liu Boming (right), and Tang Hongbo (left). (HD Photo from CNSA CMS). Spacecraft launch time: UTC 01:22, June 17. Launch site: Jiuquan. pic.twitter.com/4G9YojKjgt
— CNSA Watcher (@CNSAWatcher) June 16, 2021
According to the latest updates, the mission is being commanded by 56-year-old Nie Haisheng, who is joined by fellow spacefarers Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo aboard the spacecraft Shenzhou-12.
On the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft, which was launched atop a Long March 2F rocket, Chinese astronauts will reach Tianhe (“Harmony of the Heavens”), the core module of the new Tiangon space station. The launch of the Shenzhou 12 mission to the new space station is being aired live on Chinese state television.
The launch of #Shenzhou12 was described “as smooth as floating clouds and flowing water”. pic.twitter.com/V0uqnThdht
— Hua Chunying 华春莹 (@SpokespersonCHN) June 17, 2021
Nie Haisheng is one of China’s astronauts who has been to space twice, first on the Shenzou-6 mission in 2005 and subsequently on the Shenzhou-10 mission in 2013. The former air force pilot is now China’s oldest astronaut.Tang Hongbo, the other astronaut, travelled on the Shenzhou-7 space mission in 2008, and Liu Boming flew alongside him as well.The three astronauts will spend three months aboard the new space station’s core module, which was launched into low Earth orbit on April 28.
Into the space! #Shenzhou12 has been successfully launched. History will remember this day -June 17, 2021, and the three Chinese astronauts -Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo. pic.twitter.com/8RC8teEnLa
— Hua Chunying 华春莹 (@SpokespersonCHN) June 17, 2021
Nie, Liu, and Tang’s three-month stay in orbit will be the longest of any Chinese astronauts, and one focus will be on how the crew handle their extended time in space.”The (mission) is longer this time, and not only do we have to set up the core module – this ‘home’ in space – we’ve to carry out a series of pivotal technical tests,” Nie told reporters in Jiuquan.
Shenzhou-12, which means “Divine Vessel,” is the third of eleven missions required to construct China’s space station. Shenzhou-11, China’s most recent space mission, launched in October 2016 and brought three astronauts to a prototype forerunner for the new Chinese space station for a one-month stay.