China sends its youngest crew to space

China has launched the Shenzhou-17 space mission. The Shenzhou-17 manned spacecraft, carrying the 3 youngest taikonauts in China's space history, was launched to the space station from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 11:14 local time via a Long March-2F-Y17 carrier rocket.

Shenzhou-17 successfully entered its designated orbit 10 minutes after launch. In a statement made by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), it was noted that Shenzhou-17 would perform a fast docking with China's space station approximately 6.5 hours after liftoff, and that the taikonauts would then transfer to China's Tiangong space station to join the 3 other taikonauts currently stationed there.

CHINA'S YOUNGEST CREW WITH AN AVERAGE AGE OF 39

The Shenzhou-17 mission is led by 48-year-old former Air Force pilot Tang Hongbo, who previously served in a 2010 space mission. Accompanying the experienced taikonaut are 33-year-old Tang Shengjie and 35-year-old Jiang Xinlin, both of whom are traveling to space for the first time. With an average age of 39, the spacecraft's crew has become the youngest astronaut team in the history of China's manned space program.

THEY WILL REMAIN THERE UNTIL 2024

According to the CMSA statement, the 3 astronauts on the Shenzhou-17 spacecraft will conduct a crew rotation with the 3 astronauts on Shenzhou-16, who were sent to the space station in May. Following the rotation, the Shenzhou-17 crew will remain at the space station until April 2024. The Shenzhou-16 crew will return to Earth on October 31.

The new taikonaut team, which will serve on the space station for about 6 months, will carry out work such as space science experiments, extravehicular activities, and payload operations in orbit. As part of these efforts, they will break new ground by performing extravehicular repairs while conducting external payload installations.

China has carried out 12 manned space missions in the 20 years since the completion of its first manned space mission in 2003.