China Sends Two Taikonauts on First Crewed Mission to Tiangong-2 Space Station

China will send two taikonauts to space with the launch its first crewed mission to the Tiangong-2 Space Station, at around 7:30 p.m., Oct. 17, the longest flight for a mission that the country has ever conducted.

An article published by verge.com said that the mission will put to test Tiangong's life support system and will also be used to conduct several experiments in the next 30 days.

As the country's first crewed mission since 2013, two taikonauts will carry out the mission: Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong. The two taikonauts will be brought into space by Shenzhou-11, which will launch from the Long March-2F rocket at the Jiuquan launch site in the Gobi desert.

Jing Haipeng, 50, will be flying on his third mission, with 37-year-old Chen Dong.

"It is any astronaut's dream and pursuit to be able to perform many space missions," Jing told a briefing on Sunday, Oct. 16.

The two-man crew is expected to arrive at Tiangong-2 two days after launching, the report said.

This will be the longest crewed mission that the country has conducted. During the Shenzhou 10 mission, its record was 15 days.

Tiangong-2, a space station that weighs about 8.6 metric ton was sent into orbit on Sept. 15. It was designed to serve as test lab for China's larger plans in low Earth orbit, which include the launching of a larger, permanent space station in the 2020s.

Tiangong-2 will replace the Tiangong-1 space station, which was launched in 2011 and expected to re-enter the atmosphere next year after China lost control of it.

Experiments will be conducted by the taikonauts, which include "taking ultrasound measurements for the first time in space, cultivating plants, and testing the three winners of an experimental design competition in Hong Kong for secondary students," according to SpacePolicyOnline.

The station will be refueled through a second mission, which is planned for April 2017, the report said.