The crew of three taikonauts will spend six months in orbit, they will go into outer space 2 or 3 times
Today, April 25, at 20:59 local time (15:59 Moscow time) the Chinese manned spacecraft «Shenzhou-18» launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. The ship was launched using the Long March-2F launch vehicle. (Long March-2F), 10 minutes after launch it successfully separated, and in about 6.5 hours it should dock with the Chinese orbital station Tiangong.
On board «Shenzhou-18» — three Chinese astronauts will spend about six months on the space station and return to Earth at the end of October. Crew commander — 43-year-old Ye Guangfu, he participated in the mission «Shenzhou-13» in 2021-2022 For 34-year-old Li Cong and 36-year-old Li Guangsu, this is their first flight into space. The crew of «Shenzhou-18» will replace the taikonauts from Shenzhou-17, who went into orbit back in October last year and are due to return to Earth on April 30.
Participants of the new expedition will conduct a number of scientific experiments in such areas as aerospace medicine, fundamental physics and materials science, and will also perform 2-3 spacewalks. During extravehicular activities, the astronauts will install space debris protection enhancers on the station's external pipelines, cables and critical equipment, and will also carry out a number of other works to further ensure the safety of Tiangong.