Skip to main content

Chinese crew launches to new space station — including station’s first woman

Three astronauts blasted off for China’s longest-ever stay in space this week. They will live on China’s new space station, Tianhe, for six months, during which time they’ll perform spacewalks from the station’s core module. The three include Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu, as well as Wang Yaping, who is the first woman to stay on the new space station.

Chinese astronauts Zhai Zhigang (C), Wang Yaping (R) and Ye Guangfu.
Chinese astronauts Zhai Zhigang (C), Wang Yaping (R), and Ye Guangfu will carry out the Shenzhou-13 spaceflight mission, and Zhai will be the commander, announced the China Manned Space Agency at a press conference on Oct. 14, 2021. Xinhua

They launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China’s Gobi Desert, on a Shenzhou-13 spacecraft carried by a Long March-2F carrier rocket. Liftoff was at 12:23 a.m. Beijing Time on Saturday, October 16, as reported by state news agency Xinhau.

The crew arrived at the space station at 6:56 a.m. Beijing Time, with the spacecraft performing an automated docking procedure with the station’s core module. It docks alongside two cargo crafts also at the station: Tianzhou-2 and Tianzhou-3. The three astronauts entered the station at 9:58 a.m. Beijing Time.

During their stay, the crew will be testing out new technologies that will be used in the construction of the rest of the station, like the robotic arm for maneuvering hardware and equipment into place. They are scheduled to perform either two or three spacewalks (formally known as extravehicular activities, or EVAs) during their mission, and with Wang set to participate in these activities, she’ll become China’s first female spacewalker.

The inclusion of Wang on the crew has drawn support from current and former astronauts who wished her well on her historic mission, including Canadian Space Agency’s Chris Hadfield who tweeted his congratulations, and former NASA astronaut and International Space Station resident Cady Coleman, who told Wang in a video message that, “when you look out the window and you see the stars and you see the Earth, billions of women are looking out that window with you, including me.”

Congratulations Wang Yaping – fellow pilot, Colonel and astronaut, just beginning 6 months in space. Enjoy your spacewalk especially! https://t.co/HIiU60YzOV pic.twitter.com/dKTEkFWCg7

— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) October 16, 2021

Wang is also known as a space educator, as she gave a televised science lecture for schoolchildren during a previous mission on the Shenzhou-10 spacecraft in 2013. She’ll be giving another lecture this mission as well, inviting students to submit their questions about space.

Editors' Recommendations

Georgina Torbet
Georgina is the Digital Trends space writer, covering human space exploration, planetary science, and cosmology. She…
Air is leaking from Russian module of the International Space Station
The International Space Station.

The International Space Station (ISS) is experiencing a leak from a Russian module, but NASA assures the public that it is no threat to the crew on board. While it is not usual for a small amount of air to leak from the ISS regularly, this leak has recently increased in volume, which is why it has been closely observed.

At a briefing regarding the upcoming launch of Crew-8 to the station, now rescheduled for late Saturday night, Joel Montalbano, manager of the International Space Station Program, spoke about the leak. Montalbano said the leak had been observed since before the launch of the Russian Progress resupply craft in February, when it was leaking at a rate of around 1 pound per day. But since the arrival of the Progress craft, it has increased to around 2 pounds per day.

Read more
How to watch SpaceX Crew-8 launch to the space station tonight
SpaceX's Crew-8 ahead of launch.

NASA Live: Official Stream of NASA TV

UPDATE: NASA and SpaceX had been targeting early Saturday for the Crew 8 launch, but a forecast of strong winds in the ascent corridor prompted the mission team to switch to a new targeted launch time of 10:53 p.m. ET (7:53 p.m. PT) on Sunday, March 3. The article below has been updated to reflect this change. 

Read more
NASA astronauts need good weather for Crew-8 launch. Here’s how it’s looking
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket during a static fire test.

UPDATE: SpaceX and NASA are now targeting 11:16 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 2 for the launch of Crew-8.

SpaceX is preparing to launch three NASA astronauts and one Roscosmos cosmonaut to the International Space Station (ISS).

Read more