A confirmation has arrived that the three Chinese taikonauts of the Shenzhou 13 mission have reached the Chinese space station’s Tianhe core module with an automated docking maneuver. They blasted off about six and a half hours earlier on a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. They’re the second crew of the Chinese space station and will remain there for about six months, twice the length of the Shenzhou 12 mission.
The three taikonauts, as the Chinese call their astronauts, of the Shenzhou 13 mission are Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping, and Ye Guangfu. The information released by the Chinese authorities is limited. Commander Zhai Zhigang is 56 years old and is a major general veteran of the Shenzhou 7 space mission in 2008. Wang Yaping is 41 years old, is a colonel who participated in the Shenzhou 10 space mission in 2013 and is the first woman to serve on the new Chinese space station. Ye Guangfu is 41 years old and a colonel on his first space mission.
The taikonauts arrived aboard the Tianhe module, launched on April 29, 2021. During their mission, in addition to various works such as scientific experiments, two or three spacewalks are planned to continue installing instruments outside the Tianhe module. Verifying that the technologies developed by China to allow a constant presence in the station work well remains crucial.
The three taikonauts will have to go beyond their limits in a mission that doubles the duration of the previous one and is much longer than the missions completed by the two veterans. The first-hand experience of a long-term mission gained by the Shenzhou 12 mission taikonauts is invaluable but the Shenzhou 13 mission crew will face an even more difficult challenge.
The arrival of the Shenzhou 13 mission crew to the Chinese space station represents another step forward in China’s ambitious space program by ensuring continuity in its use. The six-month duration will be normal for the station crew, and this means that they will be on the same level as the International Space Station crews also from this point of view. The next steps will consist of a constant presence of a crew and the expansion of the station with other modules.
