Main source of information: Global Network - Shenzhou 18 astronauts, it's them!
Preface
Since Shenzhou 18 was prepared for launch, it has attracted people's attention, and this morning, the country just announced the list of three astronauts for Shenzhou 18!
These three are all post-80s, among them, Ye Guangfu, who was born in 1980, has also become the youngest commander in the history of China's manned spaceflight!
So, apart from Ye Guangfu, who are the other two astronauts?
Shenzhou-18 space mission
Shenzhou-18 is the eighteenth spacecraft in the history of the mainland's manned spaceflight, and according to the latest news, Shenzhou-18 will also be launched at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 8:59 p.m. on the 25th of this month.
It is expected to return to Earth in late October 2024.
In 2022, the mainland has been in full swing to carry out the ground development of Shenzhou 18, and in December of the same year, Shenzhou 18 has completed the final assembly test.
In January 2024, the astronauts of Shenzhou 18 have all been confirmed, and Yang Liwei once revealed in an interview that the astronauts of Shenzhou 18 and 19 have been determined.
However, due to confidentiality reasons, the list of these astronauts has not yet been announced, but these six people have already begun an intense training plan.
Shenzhou-18 is the third manned mission in the application and development stage of the continental space station, and the 32nd mission of the continental manned space project.
On March 31, 2024, the Mainland Manned Space Engineering Office also announced that Shenzhou-18 will be successfully launched into space in late April.
At that time, Shenzhou 17 will also complete its mission in space and return smoothly!
Since the announcement of the Shenzhou-18 mission, people have been very concerned about who the astronauts are this time.
In addition, in January, Yang Liwei briefly revealed the news of the astronauts during the interview, which aroused people's curiosity even more!
This morning, the official also announced the true face of the three astronauts of Shenzhou 18!
Who are these three astronauts?
Ye Guangfu has the minimum instruction length
According to the latest news from the China Manned Space Engineering Office, after the study of the space station application and development stage, the mission commander has decided:
The astronaut crew for the Shenzhou-18 manned spacecraft was carried out by three astronauts, Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu.
It is worth mentioning that these three astronauts are all post-80s, and it is the time when they are motivated and motivated.
Among these three people, everyone is probably the most familiar with Ye Guangfu, three years ago, Ye Guangfu, as a space "newcomer", followed Wang Yaping and Zhai Zhigang to space.
At that time, he was still involved in the Shenzhou 13 manned mission that was too difficult.
Shenzhou-13 is also the last launch mission of the key technology verification stage of the continental space station, and it just so happens that Ye Guangfu is among them.
Li Cong, as the 02 astronaut of Shenzhou 18, is actually participating in a public mission for the first time.
Like Ye Guangfu, Li Cong is also a post-80s generation.
Astronaut No. 03 Li Guangsu is also a post-80s generation, and like Li Cong, he is also one of the members of the third batch of astronauts in the mainland.
This time, the three astronauts of Shenzhou 18 are all men! There are no "female commanders" as previously speculated on the Internet.
This time, the post-80s group of Shenzhou 18 also proves that the mainland is getting younger and younger in manned spaceflight and has absorbed more young blood!
And Ye Guangfu, as the commander of Shenzhou 18 this time, has also become the youngest commander in the history of mainland manned spaceflight!
When the Shenzhou-17 manned spacecraft was launched, it was also called "the youngest crew in history".
This time, all three people in Shenzhou 18 are post-80s, and they will replace Shenzhou 17 as the "youngest crew" in the future!
So, what is the main mission of Shenzhou 18 to space this time?
Shenzhou-18 mission
For Shenzhou 18, there is a more difficult task point, that is, when it was lifted off on April 25, it was "windy weather".
In fact, this difficulty is not difficult for space launch missions that have been carried out more than a dozen times.
However, the launch of Shenzhou 18 is not just to take over the space mission of Shenzhou 17.
Once the three astronauts are in space, they still need to perform some tasks, including some simple scientific experiments and upgrades to the spacecraft and space station.
They needed to replace the spacecraft's batteries, which had previously been used by most spacecraft on the continent with nickel-cadmium batteries, but there were some minor problems.
When this kind of battery provides power to the space station, there will be some uncontrolled charging and discharging, which may affect the operation of the manned spacecraft and cause the subsequent space missions to be unable to perform.
Therefore, in order to solve these problems, the mainland has also installed a long-life, large-capacity, and stable lithium-ion battery on the Shenzhou 18 spacecraft.
And, in addition to the battery replacement, the three astronauts also need to upgrade the Tiangong space station.
This upgrade is to ensure that more astronauts can live on the space station at the same time, so that the interior space of the space station is larger.
Therefore, the mainland also plans to upgrade the space station from "three cabins" to "six cabins".
Previously, Yang Liwei revealed in an interview that not only the astronauts of Shenzhou 18 have been confirmed to be training this time, but the mission of Shenzhou 19 has also been determined!
Shenzhou 19 is also in training
For any scientific project, the mainland adheres to the mentality of "taking one step and looking at ten steps".
What we see may be that Shenzhou 18 has already been prepared, but the subsequent Shenzhou 19 astronauts have already been in training.
Under the mission of Shenzhou 18, Shenzhou 19 has been in a state of "emergency standby" and is ready to launch at any time.
Early training is also to ensure the safety of astronauts.
Logically speaking, as long as there are astronauts working and living on the space station, there must be a legal rocket and a spacecraft on the ground to be on emergency standby to deal with various emergencies.
And they must also be ready to go into space at any time and bring home the astronauts stranded in space!
Therefore, in this case, the mainland Shenzhou-19 manned spacecraft has long been prepared.
For all manned spacecraft missions, the mainland adheres to this attitude, one is to ensure the safety of astronauts, and the other is to take emergency measures.
In this case, Shenzhou 19 can actually be called a "standby rescue spacecraft", but Shenzhou 18 was also like this before.
In the final analysis, we still have to believe in the mainland's space technology, because in the field of manned spacecraft, we are still 100% successful.
Although the two spacecraft are now appearing together, I hope that Shenzhou 19 will never go on an "emergency rescue" mission!
In the future, I also hope that the mainland's aerospace industry will get better and better!
Sources of information:
Douyin Encyclopedia - Shenzhou 18
Guangming Network -- Shen 18 and Shen 19 astronauts have been confirmed! Yang Liwei revealed