2016年CRI China successfully launches Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft

China successfully launches Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft

As the sun rose over Northwest China's Gobi dessert, Shenzhou 11 spacecraft blasted off into space, propelled by its Long March 2F carrier rocket at 7:30 am Monday morning.

After its separation from the second stage of the rocket, the spacecraft entered low Earth orbit to start its mission scheduled to last 33 days, which is China's longest ever manned spaceflight mission.

The Chief commander of China's manned space program Zhang Youxia announced the success of the launch.

"Now I announce the launch of Shenzhou 11 manned spacecraft a success."

50-year-old Major General Jing Haipeng is the commander of this mission.

As a veteran of the Shenzhou 7 and Shenzhou 9 missions, Jing has previously 2 visited the Tiangong 1 space lab, giving him experience in flying a space docking.

His partner is 37 year old Chen Dong, who was chosen in 2010 to be part of the next generation of Chinese astronauts.

The ex-fighter jet pilot says six years of training has fully 1 prepared him for the mission, even though it will be his first time in space.

"Since being enrolled 3 in the astronaut program, we have undergone intensive training to prep ourselves in areas of physical strength, mental and phycological health, professional skills as well as team work. Due to the special tasks of the mission, we have been particularly trained to deal with emergency situations, provide medical assistance, and conduct space experiments."

After the launch, Shenzhou-11 will stay in orbit for 2-days before docking with Tiangong-2 at an altitude of 393-kilometers above the earth.

During the mission, the two astronauts will conduct a total of 16 experiments, covering areas of human health, human behavior and capability 4, ergonomics as well as life support technologies.

Wu Dawei from the Astronaut Center of China has been researching programs and designing facilities over the past three years to provide astronauts with better living conditions in space.

She says the task of protecting and maintaining health in space is easy, but very detailed 5.

"We will set up medical examinations and evaluate their health conditions on a regular basis. In addition, prevention measures to avoid adverse 6 effect of weightlessness will be conducted. Many of you have seen the kind of exercises foreign astronauts do in space. In our mission, we also have designed similar facilities. Exercise bikes, treadmills 7 and wall-mounted pulleys, our astronauts are able to maintain physical fitness in zero gravity. "

Wu adds that astronauts won't be isolated 8 during their month-long adventure.

The two will have access to space-ground communication systems, and will be able to talk with their families and use the internet.

The Shenzhou-11 will be China's sixth manned space mission since 2003, when astronaut Yang Liwei became the country's first person in orbit

Long term space stays, together with rendezvous 9 (pronounced Ron Day Voo) and docking exercises between the space vehicle and the space lab are part of China's efforts to build a space station by the year 2020.

For CRI, this is Liu Mohan in Jiuquan.