China News Agency, Jiuquan, June 16 (Guo Chaokai) Ji Qiming, assistant to the director of China’s Manned Space Engineering Office, said at a press conference on the Shenzhou 12 manned mission on the 16th that China will complete the construction of the space station in 2022. The National Space Laboratory will be completed; the Shenzhou 12 astronaut crew will complete four main tasks in orbit, including two out of the cabin activities and extravehicular operations.

On June 16, the three astronauts Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo who performed the Shenzhou 12 manned mission met with Chinese and foreign media reporters at Wentian Pavilion at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on the 16th.

The picture shows Tang Hongbo (left), Nie Haisheng (middle), and Liu Boming (right).

Photo by Wang Jiangbo

　　The Shenzhou 12 mission has four characteristics. One is to further verify the functional performance of the manned space-to-earth transportation system; the other is to fully verify the astronaut’s long-term stay guarantee technology; and the third is to verify that the astronauts and astronauts will be in orbit. The manipulator can jointly complete out-of-cabin activities and out-of-cabin operations; fourth, the search and recovery capabilities of the Dongfeng landing site will be tested for the first time.

　　Ji Qiming pointed out that the Shenzhou 12 manned spacecraft has added autonomous rapid rendezvous and docking, radial rendezvous and docking, and 180-day on-orbit docking capabilities.

The return technology has been improved, the accuracy of the landing point has been further improved, and the emergency rescue mission mode of the manned spacecraft will be activated for the first time.

In addition, the landing site was adjusted from Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia, to the Dongfeng landing site, and for the first time the landing site system was turned on for the first time in the normalized emergency standby search and rescue mode.

　　Ji Qiming stated that in accordance with the space station construction mission plan, 11 missions will be implemented this year and next, including 3 space station cabin launches, 4 cargo spacecraft and 4 manned spacecraft launches. The space station will be completed in orbit by 2022. After the National Space Laboratory, the space station will enter the application and development stage.

　　According to the mission arrangement, during the Shenzhou 12 flight, the astronaut crew will complete four main tasks in orbit: First, carry out the daily management of the core module assembly, including the on-orbit test of the Tianhe core module, the verification of the regeneration life support system, Robotic arm testing and operation training, as well as material and waste management, etc.

The second is to carry out out-of-cabin activities and out-of-cabin operations.

Including the on-orbit transfer, assembly and testing of the extravehicular suit, carrying out two out-of-cabin activities, carrying out the assembly of the extravehicular toolbox, the lifting of the panoramic camera and the installation of the extended pump unit.

The third is to carry out space science experiments and technological experiments.

Carry out the assembly and testing of experimental equipment for space application missions, and carry out experiments (tests) in the fields of space applications and aerospace medicine according to procedures, as well as related science education activities.

The fourth is to manage the health of the astronauts themselves.

Carry out daily life care and physical exercises as planned, and regularly monitor, maintain and evaluate their own health status.

　　Ji Qiming revealed that the selection of the astronaut crew for this mission is based on the method of "matching new and old with old and new", combining astronauts' flight experience and mutual coordination capabilities, etc., to select flight crews and backup astronauts; The astronaut training programs and plans have been implemented, ground training and mission preparation have been solidly carried out, and each astronaut has trained more than 6000 hours.

At present, the astronaut crew has made all preparations for the mission.

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