Three Shenzhou VII astronauts and their backups arrived in Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center yesterday, marking final preparation for China's third manned space mission.
The main crew members of Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng are scheduled to meet the press in a brief session that will go live on national television on Wednesday afternoon, after the JSLC authorities' official announcement of the mission's launch date and time.
A structure consisting of a spacecraft, Long March II-F rocket and escape tower were transferred to its launch pad at 3:15 pm on Saturday.
The 58.3-m-high body of the Shenzhou VII and its carrier rocket, slated for takeoff later this month, was transported to its launch pad on a 1.5-km-long heavy rail line, Xinhua News Agency said.
The transfer lasted more than one hour. More than 20 meteorological workers reportedly monitored the process, as the transfer had to be conducted with a wind speed of under 10 m per second.
The manned spacecraft Shenzhou-7 will be launched at an appropriate time between Sept 25 and 30, engineers said.
China successfully put two manned spacecraft into orbit in 2003 and 2005, respectively, becoming the third country to send an astronaut into space after the United States and the former Soviet Union.
Source: China Daily
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