Dikhyaa Mohanty 
China is all set to send the first three crew members to its new space station for three months. The spaceship, Shenzhou-12, with three male astronauts will be launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre, Ji Qiming, assistant to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA)
According to the country’s space agency, they announced that China is all set to send the first three crew members to its new space station. The spaceship will take Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo into space for the construction of China’s space station. This will be the first manned mission during the construction of the space station.
The mission is being launched ahead of the 100-year celebrations of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) to be held next month. After entering the orbit, the spaceship will conduct a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the in-orbit space station core module Tianhe, forming a complex with the core module and the cargo craft Tianzhou-2.
The astronauts aboard Shenzhou-12 will be stationed in the core module and remain in orbit for three months. The launch will be carried out with a Long March-2F carrier rocket, which will be filled with propellant on Wednesday morning.
The space station still under construction is expected to be ready by next year. In all, China plans to launch 11 space missions this year and next year before the space station is ready. Three will be for modules, four for cargo spaceships and four for manned spaceships, according to official media reports.
Astronauts will conduct multiple tasks outside the cabin, carrying out repair and maintenance on the spacecraft, and other construction missions. China’s space station has been equipped with a robotic arm over which the US has raised concerns for its possible military applications.
Image Source – Google
