“Twenty-five years is a long journey. Every time I missed my chance [to go into space], I felt lost and sometimes I cried, but I’ve never hesitated or given up. As an astronaut, I can spend all my life getting ready for one opportunity, but I must be ready when the opportunity comes to me,” Deng told reporters on Monday.
Deng, a native of Jiangxi province, joined the air force after leaving school and trained as a pilot before being selected to join the space programme.
The Shenzhou 15 mission was scheduled to lift off at 11.08pm on Tuesday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert, Ji Qiming, from the China Manned Space Agency, said on Monday.
The three astronauts – Deng, mission commander Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu – will join the Shenzhou 14 crew to complete a week-long handover, and test the Tiangong’s ability to accommodate six people at once.
Ji said the Shenzhou 15 crew would then work on their own for six months, including carrying out three or four spacewalks and more than 40 experiments and technical tests.
Astronauts Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu attend a news conference ahead of their mission. Photo: Reuters
Mission commander Fei, 57, is a veteran who took part in China’s second manned space mission – Shenzhou 6 in 2005.
Like Deng, Zhang has never been to space before. He described himself as “very excited” and “looking forward to weightlessness” ahead of lift-off.
The mission will open a new chapter for China’s space station as it moves from the construction phase to the application and development phase, as one that “links the past and the future”, Ji said.
The crew’s mission will include the installation and testing of 15 experimental cabins, the installation of exposure experiments outside the Mengtian module, and the verification of Mengtian’s cargo airlock module, according to Ji.
Compared with the Shenzhou 14 astronauts, the new crew had been trained to deal with a large variety of scientific experiments, Yang Yuguang, vice-chairman of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, told CGTN news.
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China launches Mengtian, final module to complete Tiangong space station
The Shenzhou 14 crew, who have been in orbit since June, have been more focused on engineering tasks, such as manual docking and the use of robotic arms.
The three – Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe – are wrapping up their work and waiting for the arrival of the new crew. Ji said they were expected to return to Earth within a week of Shenzhou 15’s arrival, and touch down in Inner Mongolia.
Ji said that many other countries had expressed interest in sending astronauts to the space station, which is expected to operate for the next 10 years. “We are actively coordinating with relevant parties and preparing for training foreign astronauts,” he said.
He also revealed that China had completed all the basic training for its third generation of astronauts, including seven pilots, seven flight engineers, and four payload experts.
“The public in Hong Kong and Macau has responded enthusiastically. We’ve received applications from experts working in medical engineering, mechanical electronics, materials, chemistry, astronomy and other professional fields. So far, we’ve completed the primary selection and are organising medical examinations [for qualified candidates],” he added.
