🚀 Hey space fans! Exciting news from China! On April 24 at 5:17 p.m., China is launching its Shenzhou-20 spaceship into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. 🌌
The Shenzhou-20 will zoom up and, about 6.5 hours later, it will connect with China’s space station – like two pieces of a cosmic puzzle coming together! 🧩 Once docked, it’ll make a big combination of three spaceships and three modules. How cool is that?
This mission is special because it’s the fifth crewed trip during the space station’s application and development phase, and it’s the 35th mission in China’s crewed space program overall. That’s a lot of space adventures! 🛰️
Meet the Astronauts 🌟
Let’s meet the heroes of this mission:
- Chen Dong: He’s the commander and has been to space before on the Shenzhou-11 and Shenzhou-14 missions. He’s ready to lead the team again!
- Chen Zhongrui: A former air force pilot, this is his first time going to space! 🚁
- Wang Jie: Also a newbie in space, Wang Jie used to be an engineer at the China Academy of Space Technology. 🛠️
They will stay in space for about six months, doing lots of cool experiments, going on spacewalks, and even installing new equipment on the outside of the space station! 👩🚀🧪
What’s Next? 🌠
While the Shenzhou-20 crew is up there, they will welcome the Tianzhou-9 cargo spaceship and the Shenzhou-21 crewed spaceship. Busy times in space! The Shenzhou-20 crew will come back to Earth in late October.
Oh, and the Shenzhou-19 astronauts will be coming home soon. After swapping places with the new crew, they’re scheduled to land back on Earth on April 29. Welcome home! 🌎
Science in Space 🔬
The astronauts will be doing 59 experiments! They’ll study things like how zebrafish and planarians (a type of flatworm) live in space, and they’ll research special bacteria called streptomyces. Science in space helps us learn more about our world and the universe! 🐟🐛🛰️
More Visitors to the Space Station 🛸
Exciting news – astronauts from Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions are training to go to space, possibly as soon as 2026! Plus, two astronauts from Pakistan will train in China, and one might go on a space mission soon. Space exploration is becoming a big team effort! 🤝
So mark your calendars and get ready to watch the stars – the Shenzhou-20 mission is about to take off! 🌟
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
