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Added on the 17/06/2021 01:03:16 - Copyright : AFPTV - First images
Chinese astronauts say goodbye before the launch of the Shenzhou-16 spacecraft, which will take off aboard a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China. It will carry mission commander Jing Haipeng on his fourth extra-terrestrial trip, as well as engineer Zhu Yangzhu and Beihang University professor Gui Haichao, the first Chinese civilian in space. IMAGES
Astronauts Jiang Xinlin, Tang Hongbo and Tang Shengjie participate in a farewell ceremony in China's Jiuquan. The Shenzhou-17 module carrying the trio to the station is scheduled to blast off at 11:14 am (0314 GMT) Thursday from the launch site in China's northwest. IMAGES
US NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and Russian Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, members of the International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 70-71 main crew, bid farewell to their relatives and visitors gathered ahead of the launch from the Russian leased Baikonur facility, in Kazakhstan. IMAGES
Chinese astronauts Zhu Yangzhu, Jing Haipeng, and Gui Haichao arrive for a press briefing before the Shenzhou-16 launch to the Tiangong space station. They are set to take off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China on Tuesday at 9:31 am (0131 GMT). IMAGES
Astronauts who will be blasting off on Thursday for China's first manned mission to its new space station meet the media. The mission will be China's longest crewed space mission to date and the first in nearly five years. IMAGES