By 
October 22nd, 2023
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Launch preparations are in full-swing in China, readying rocket and the three-person Shenzhou-17 crew for a reported October 25 sendoff.
A set of comprehensive pre-launch tests were conducted Sunday at the launching area in northwest China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
According to China Central Television (CCTV), the trio of still-unidentified Shenzhou-17 astronauts participated in a launch simulation to rehearse for an on-time liftoff.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Rocket rehearsal
“During today’s all-system launch rehearsal, our rocket systems focused on flight simulation for the last time before the official launch,” said Shi Yaoxin, a rocket engineer of the Long March-2F carrier rocket launch team from the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
“It was a whole-process simulation that covered all instructed maneuvers in the power and electrical systems from ignition to the separation of the rocket and the spaceship. The rehearsal was now completed and it marks that all the systems of the rocket are fully prepared for propellant filling and the official liftoff,” Shi told CCTV.
Image credit: Shujianyang Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
Station handover
Following liftoff, the astronauts will be greeted aboard China’s Tiangong space station by the Shenzhou-16 crew who arrived at the orbiting outpost earlier this year, on May 30.
Now circuiting the Earth, Shenzhou-16 astronauts Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao — the first Chinese civilian in space — will hand over the station to the incoming crew and return to Earth after their near five month mission.
Now onboard China’s space station, the Shenzhou-16 crew.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
In preparation for the Shenzhou-16 landing, recovery crews at the Dongfeng landing site in north China’s Inner Mongolia have been holding drills in preparation for the landing.
For a video showcasing the launch preparations for Shenzhou-17’s departure, go to:
Posted in Space News
