The three-person crew will prepare for the arrival of two modules.
A Long March 2F rocket with the Shenzhou 14 spacecraft takes off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.Three Chinese astronauts, or taikonauts, arrived at the Tianhe core module of the unfinished Tiangong space station on Sunday morning, where they’ll stay for six months to help finish its construction . The Shenzhou 14 spacecraft took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert on Saturday at 10:44PM ET and docked with Tianhe at 5:42AM ET .
The three-person crew includes Chen Dong, Cai Xuzhe, and Liu Yang, who originally made history as theduring the country’s Shenzhou 9 mission in 2012. While they’re in orbit, the crew is expected to conduct several spacewalks and prepare the station for the arrival of two additional lab modules, with the Wentian module set to launch next month and the Mengtian in October.
module slated for 2023. Shenzhou 14 is China’s third crewed mission to the space station since the launch of the Tianhe module in April 2021. This latest trio is set to welcome the Shenzhou 15 crew aboard the station towards the end of this year, marking the first time the station will hold six people.Subscribe to get the best Verge-approved tech deals of the week.Please confirm your subscription to Verge Deals via the verification email we just sent you.