Jiuquan - China launched the Shenzhou-16 crewed spaceship on Tuesday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

Three taikonauts are onboard the spacecraft. Who are they? Why were they selected? What will they do on this space mission? Read on to find out...

Who will be on Shenzhou-16?

The three taikonauts are Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu, and Gui Haichao.

Jing, born in 1966, is the commander. This is the fourth time he has travelled to space, more than any other Chinese astronaut. He was involved in the Shenzhou-7 mission in 2008 and commanded the Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-11 missions in 2012 and 2016.

This space flight will be the first for Zhu and Gui. As the newest faces of China’s taikonauts, they have been hotly discussed on social media these days. What are their backgrounds and interesting experiences?

Zhu, born in 1986, is the mission’s spaceflight engineer. He is the first engineer to fly to the nation’s space station. During his stay in orbit, Zhu will be responsible for routine maintenance and repair of the space station and various technical tests and experiments.

Zhu is a postdoctoral fellow in aerodynamics and a former university lecturer. He thought he would dedicate his life to teaching and research, but when China began recruiting its third batch of astronauts, his dream of flying was once more ignited.The astronaut training was challenging for an engineer with no air flight experience. Still, he helped his colleagues stay clear-headed by singing, organizing games and telling jokes.

Born in 1986, Gui is the country’s first civilian astronaut to head into space. The spectacled professor at Beijing-based Beihang University will work as a payload expert responsible for the in-orbit operations of experiment payloads in China’s Tiangong space station.

As the space mission’s first payload expert, he will manage, maintain, and repair scientific experiment equipment aboard the space station. His experiments will span equipment operation, experiment condition control, and data collection and analysis.

Gui holds a PhD and studied aircraft design and engineering at the School of Astronautics, Beihang University. The survival training in the scorching heat of the Badain Jaran Desert in northwest China had a particular impact on Gui. He recalls the burning heat of the strong sunlight, which penetrated his double-layered tent, and how he and his team drank rain, dew and even urine in their quest for water.

Why are they?

In 2018, China announced a plan to recruit its third group of astronauts and specified that this would include pilots, flight engineers, and payload specialists.

Compared to previous crew, Shenzhou-16 is diverse, with astronauts from different career backgrounds. This is the first crewed mission with the participation of three types of taikonauts, according to CMSA.

According to the CMSA, among China’s third batch of taikonauts, seven are spacecraft pilots, seven are flight engineers, and four are payload experts. After more than two years of rigorous training, they could perform spaceflight tasks.

More new members will be selected in the future.

What are their tasks?

Experiments and research will concern novel quantum phenomena, high-precision space-time-frequency systems, general relativity verification, and life's origin.

The Shenzhou-16 mission will also install electric propulsion cylinders, lift extravehicular cameras and install large extravehicular application facilities such as radiation biological exposure experiment equipment.

The crew will witness the docking of the Tianzhou-5 cargo craft and the Shenzhou-17 crewed spaceship, as well as the departure of both the Shenzhou-15 manned spaceship and Tianzhou-5.

They will give lectures during their mission and bring paintings from children from 10 African countries to the space station.

How long will they stay in space?

The three taikonauts will stay in orbit for about five months.