A Chinese spacecraft with a three-person crew, including the country’s first female space engineer, has arrived after a voyage of more than six hours.
The crew will use the domestic space station as a base for six months to conduct experiments and spacewalks, gaining expertise and intelligence for Beijing’s eventual aim to land someone on the Moon by 2030.
Beijing called the launch of Shenzhou 19 a “complete success” saying it is one of 100 missions scheduled by China in a record year of space exploration as it seeks to outperform its adversary, the US.
Xuzhe is making his second trip to space after previously flying on Shenzhou-14 in 2022.
During that mission, the 44-year-old People’s Liberation Army Air Force pilot performed one spacewalk, amassing a little more than four hours in total.
Haoze is not only making her first trip to space, but according to the state-run news outlet, China Global Television Network, she will also become the first female spaceflight engineer from China to go to space.
She also holds the distinction of being just the third woman from China to head to orbital space, following in the footsteps of Liu Yang and Wang Yaping.
Lingdong, another Air Force pilot, will be making his first trip to space as well. As with Haoze, 34-year-old Lingdong also became part of the third group of taikonauts in 2020.
The trio of the Shenzhou-18 mission, Ye Guangfu, Li Cong, and Li Guangsu, will return from the TSS after a brief handover with the incoming taikonauts.
