Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, the three Chinese astronauts for the upcoming Shenzhou-20 spaceflight mission, met the press on Wednesday.
The Shenzhou-20 crewed spaceship is scheduled to be launched at 17:17 Thursday (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, the China Manned Space Agency announced at a press briefing earlier in the day.
The three astronauts will take over command of China's Tiangong space station from the Shenzhou-19 crew currently in orbit, and will spend about six months in space.
Chen Dong participated in the Shenzhou-11 and Shenzhou-14 space missions. He served as the commander of the Shenzhou-14 crew and will take on the mantle once again after a two-year interval. He will also become the first among China's second batch of astronauts to carry out three spaceflight missions.
Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie both come from the third batch of astronauts and will embark on their first spaceflight mission. Before being selected, Chen Zhongrui was an air force pilot, while Wang Jie was an engineer at the China Academy of Space Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
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.
Astronauts of China's Shenzhou-20 space mission meet press
Astronauts of China's Shenzhou-20 space mission meet press
Astronauts of China's Shenzhou-20 space mission meet press
