See-off ceremony held for Chinese astronauts of Shenzhou-19 mission

JIUQUAN, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- A see-off ceremony for three Chinese astronauts of the Shenzhou-19 crewed space mission was held early Wednesday morning at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

At the command of Xu Xueqiang, commander-in-chief of China's manned space program, astronauts Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong, and Wang Haoze set off at 1:38 a.m. (Beijing Time).

As of Wednesday, the Shenzhou-18 crew has stayed in the orbiting Tiangong space station for six months and is preparing for the arrival of the Shenzhou-19 crew.

The Shenzhou-19 spaceship is slated to be launched at 4:27 a.m. Wednesday (Beijing Time), and the new crew will stay in orbit for about six months. ■