Xinhua
22 Nov 2022, 18:25 GMT+10
BEIJING, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Chen Dong has set a new record for the most cumulative days living and working in space by a Chinese taikonaut.
The China Manned Space Agency said on Tuesday that the twice-time space traveler, who is on board the orbiting China's Tiangong space station, has become the first Chinese to stay in orbit for more than 200 days.
Together with two other taikonauts, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe, Chen was sent into the space station core module Tianhe aboard the Shenzhou-14 spaceship on June 5 for a six-month stay.
The crew has spent more than 170 days in orbit. This is the second time Chen has ventured into space, following his first 33-day Shenzhou-11 mission in Tiangong-2, the space station's predecessor, in 2016 with taikonaut Jing Haipeng.
"Chen is a perfectionist. He never leaves problems unsolved," said Jing. After his first space trip, Chen was conferred with a third-class medal and the honorary title "heroic taikonaut."
Chen was born in 1978 in central China's Henan Province. He was recruited into China's taikonaut team in May 2010.
Appointed as the mission commander, Chen has led the Shenzhou-14 crew to complete multiple tasks over the past five months, including three spacewalks, a series of scientific experiments, a live science lecture, and several in-orbit operations of rendezvous, docking, and transposition. They have been called "the busiest space crew" by Chinese netizens.
During the mission, the trio in orbit oversaw the arrivals of the station's two lab modules, Wentian and Mengtian, and saw off two cargo crafts, Tianzhou-4 and Tianzhou-5. They will also witness the historical moment when the Chinese space station is fully completed by the end of this year.
"Building China's space station is the dream of all Chinese people. We are so lucky and happy to see that the construction of the space home will be completed in our hands," Chen said while the trio met the press ahead of the mission.
"We will make good use of such a platform to carry out more complicated sci-tech experiments, so as to generate more achievements to serve the world and benefit all mankind."
China is ready to send the next manned mission into space as the Shenzhou-15 spaceship and its carrier rocket have been transferred to the launch area on Monday. Chen and his team members will be involved in the first Chinese space station crew handover in orbit when the Shenzhou-15 taikonauts arrive. The manpower in Tiangong will grow to six for a short period before the Shenzhou-14 heads back to Earth.
The Shenzhou-14 crew is scheduled to return to the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in December.
Get a daily dose of Afghanistan Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Afghanistan Sun.
More InformationGAZA - Israel is refusing to allow search parties to access an area where 9 Red Cross ambulance crews have gone missing in Gaza. ...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: A jury in Georgia has ordered Bayer, the parent company of Monsanto, to pay nearly US$2.1 billion to a man...
The death toll in Friday's massive earthquake in Myanmar has risen to over 1,600, and is expected to rise significantly. At least another...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: In response to soaring egg prices and supply shortages driven by a devastating bird flu outbreak, the United States...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: U.S. President Donald Trump vowed this week that more countries will be added to the Abraham Accords, the series...
TOKYO, Japan: This week, Japan's cherry blossom season officially began as experts confirmed the first blooms in Tokyo. A specialist...
Kathmandu [Nepal], March 29 (ANI): Former Australian batter Stuart Law was appointed as the new head coach of the Nepal Senior Cricket...
Panaji (Goa) [India], March 29 (ANI): Goa Police arrested three members of an international trafficking gang, including a Kazakhstan...
Visitors look at a model of a fully automatic hydrogen-powered train at the 2024 World Manufacturing Convention in Hefei, east China's...
This photo taken on March 19, 2025 shows a view of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) International Conference Center in Boao, south China's...
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 28 (ANI): When Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) take on five-time champions Chennai Super Kings...
The president has urged sustainable development of the region and addressed the global implications of the US claim to Greenland ...