The press conference on Shenzhou 20 manned flight mission was held today (April 23) at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The spokesperson said that the flight crew consists of Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, and Chen Dong serves as the commander.

Astronaut Chen Dong has performed manned flight missions from Shenzhou 11 and Shenzhou 14, and has served as the commander again after two years.

Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie are both from the third batch of astronauts in my country and are performing their first flight mission.

Among them, Chen Zhongrui was an Air Force pilot before being selected; Wang Jie was an engineer at the Space Technology Research Institute of Aerospace Science and Technology Group Co., Ltd. before being selected. At present, all preparations for the mission are progressing steadily. The Long March 2 F Yao 20 carrier rocket that carried out this launch mission is about to replenish propellant, and the Shenzhou 20 astronaut crew will set off for space on China Space Day.

After research and decision by the mission headquarters, the Shenzhou 20 manned spacecraft was launched at 17:17 Beijing time on April 24.

(CCTV reporter Huang Xianwen and Wang Gang)