China sent its youngest ever crew to the space station, including a nuclear rocket scientist

On October 30 at 04:27 Beijing time (October 29 at 23:27 Moscow time), the Long March-2F rocket with the Shenzhou-19 ship, carrying three taikonauts, was launched from the Jiuquan Cosmodrome. About seven hours later, the ship docked in “automatic accelerated mode” with the Tiangong orbital station, where the crew will work until May 2025. The crew includes China’s first female flight engineer.

Image source: Xinhua

Wang Haoze became the third female taikonaut. She is 34 years old. She is a nuclear rocket scientist and works in the design of nuclear rocket engines. She also has experience in scientific work, so she will help conduct dozens of unique experiments in space. Together with her, crew commander Cai Xuzhe and pilot Song Lingdong went on a six-month watch. The latter is also 34 years old, which allows us to declare that the youngest crew in the history of taikonautics was sent to the station.

The Tiangong station is designed for a permanent stay of three people. During shift changes, as now, the short-term presence of six taikonauts is allowed. Each shift lasts six months. The Shenzhou 19 crew will return to Earth at the end of April or May 2025.