China will send a civilian into space for the first time

On Sunday, China revealed an identity Three astronauts will travel on the Shenzhou-16 spacecraft on Tuesday to the Tiangong space station for about five months.

They are the veteran Jing Haiping and Zhu Yangzhu’s space novice Gui Haichao.

Jing – 57 and a member of the first group of astronauts trained by China – will lead the expedition, on what will be its fourth mission, which will make it The most experienced Chinese astronaut to date.

Jing explained at a press conference that, in order “Keep fit and ready for a space mission at any time” He follows a workout that includes 600 push-ups a day, 600 squats and a thousand jump ropes, plus “almost” rest, including weekends.

Despite his long extraterrestrial experience, Jing claimed to have “a lot of desire” to return to space.

For his part, Yang, 37, part of the third group of Chinese astronauts, joined the Chinese army in 2005 and has He worked as a university professor at the College of Aviation.

“In the past two years, I have transformed from an ordinary college professor into a ‘flying warrior’, which is an achievement in my career,” said Yang. “Proud” of his “great homeland”.

The third crew member is Civil Gui Haichao An expert in payloads, he was a professor of aeronautics and astronautics at Peking University. The difference with his comrades is that Gui is not part of the Chinese army.

Gui, a native of Yunnan Province, will take charge Run test payloads into orbit in space sciences.

Peking University stated that it began to take an interest in space after that Listening to the news about Yang Liwei on the radiothe first Chinese to travel to space in 2003.

Gui, 37, said he had always dreamed of it Take your scientific research into space. And that he did not hesitate to introduce himself as soon as he had the opportunity.

Thus, the difference in age between the beginners and their captain up to 20 years old, Although Jing pointed out that the difference was not a problem during his training.

Commanders Jing and Zhou will be responsible for maneuvering and managing the ship and conducting scientific experiments Gui will be responsible for the test payloadsChina’s manned mission agency reported today.

It will be Shenzhou-16 crew members, all of whom are members of the (ruling) Communist Party of China The first to arrive in Tiangong since its construction was completed At the end of 2022, marking the start of the implementation and development of the station, the construction of which began in April 2021.

It will likely become Tiangong from 2024 onwards The only space station in the world If the International Space Station, a US-led initiative to which China is denied access due to military ties to its space program, is shut down that year as scheduled.

(With info from EFE And Aristegui News)