The final rehearsal for China’s upcoming manned Shenzhou-17 spaceflight occurred on Tuesday morning, as reported by China Central Television. The rehearsal was organized by the Beijing Aerospace Control Center, the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, the Xi’an Satellite Control Center, and spacecraft tracking ships. It involved simulating all the necessary processes for the spaceflight, including checks and pre-launch preparations.
The astronauts for the Shenzhou-17 mission also participated in the rehearsal. The crew has been studying flight documents and practicing spacecraft maneuvers since their arrival at the Jiuquan center in China’s Gobi Desert. They are fully prepared for the mission, according to CCTV. The Long March 2F carrier rocket, which will launch the Shenzhou-17 spacecraft, will be injected with propellants at the appropriate time.
The Shenzhou-17 mission will be China’s 12th manned space mission and the sixth crewed flight to the Tiangong space station. The current Shenzhou-16 crew has been in orbit for nearly five months and is expected to return to Earth after handing over to the Shenzhou-17 crew. The Tiangong space station, located about 400 kilometers above the ground, is one of the largest and most advanced spacecraft ever placed in orbit. It consists of the Tianhe core module, the Wentian and Mengtian science lab modules, and is connected to the Shenzhou-16 crew ship and the Tianzhou 6 cargo ship.
The Shenzhou program is China’s human spaceflight program. The program was initiated in the early 1990s, and it has made significant progress in recent years.
In 2003, China became the third country in the world to send a human into space with the launch of the Shenzhou-5 mission. Since then, China has launched 16 crewed Shenzhou missions, and it has built its own space station, Tiangong.
This program is a major source of national pride for China, and it is seen as a key part of the country’s space ambitions. China plans to launch several more crewed Shenzhou missions to Tiangong in the coming years, and it is also developing new spacecraft and rockets that will take Chinese astronauts to the Moon and Mars.