China to send three astronauts to Tiangong space station, part of its ambitious program – Metro US | Space

Chinese astronauts for the upcoming Shenzhou-18 mission Ye Guangfu, center, Li Guangsu, left, and Li Cong attend a meeting with the press at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

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JIUQUAN SATELLITE LAUNCH CENTER, China (AP) — China’s space agency is making final preparations to send the Shenzhou-18 crew into low-Earth orbit on Thursday as part of its ambitious space program that aims to put people on the moon by 2030.

In a press conference on Wednesday, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) introduced the three astronauts; Commander Ye Guangfu, 43, a veteran astronaut who was part of the Shenzhou-13 mission in 2021; and astronauts Li Cong, 34, and Li Guangsu, 36, who will go to space for the first time.

The three-member crew’s spacecraft is set for lift-off at 8:59 p.m. (1259 GMT) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on the edge of the Gobi Desert in the country’s northwest. They will relieve the Shenzhou-17 team, who have manned China’s Tiangong space station since last October.

The crew will spend about six months on the space station. They will conduct scientific tests, install space debris protection equipment on the space station, carry out payload…

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