China - April 25, 2024

Storyline:
A send-off ceremony for three Chinese astronauts of the Shenzhou-18 crewed spaceflight mission was held on Thursday afternoon at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

The Shenzhou-18 crewed spaceship is scheduled to lift off at 20:59 Thursday (Beijing Time) at the launch site.

The three Chinese astronauts Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu reported to the commander-in-chief of China's manned space program Xu Xueqiang that they were ready to undertake their mission.

After receiving an order from the commander-in-chief, the astronauts boarded a vehicle and departed for the launch site amid cheers from a crowd of well-wishers.

The three astronauts are set to stay in orbit for around six months, and will take over the command of China's Tiangong space station after completing an in-orbit handover with their colleagues of the Shenzhou-17 mission, who are scheduled to return to the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on April 30.

After entering orbit, the Shenzhou-18 spaceship will perform a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the radial port of the space station core module Tianhe in about 6.5 hours, forming a combination of three modules and three spacecraft.

The crew will witness the arrival of the Tianzhou-8 cargo craft and Shenzhou-19 crewed spaceship during their stay.

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