Three Chinese astronauts will board the Shenzhou 10 space capsule Tuesday for a 15-day orbital mission to the Tiangong 1 science lab, duplicating docking demonstrations completed last year while expanding the country's growing capabilities in space.

The three-person Shenzhou 10 crew departs on the way to the launch pad. Credit: CCTV/Spaceflight Now
 
The Chinese government officially unveiled the mission Monday, announcing the identities of three crew members and revealing the target launch time.

Liftoff of the 8.5-ton Shenzhou 10 spaceship is scheduled for 0938 GMT (5:38 a.m. EDT; 5:37 p.m. Beijing time) from the Jiuquan space center in northwest China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The mission's three-person crew is led by Nie Haisheng, a veteran Chinese astronaut who spent five days in space on the Shenzhou 6 mission in 2005.

Nie will be joined by rookie space fliers Zhang Xiaoguang and Wang Yaping, China's second female astronaut.

The identities of the crew were kept secret until Monday, when Chinese state media released their names and detailed biographies of the astronauts. The crew later participatd in a brief press conference with Chinese media representatives at Jiuquan.

"As a Chinese astronaut, I feel really proud to represent our country going to space," Nie said through a translator. "Compared with the Shenzhou 6 mission, this time we're going to have a longer flight, we'll conduct more experiments, and also there are larger challenges and more risks. In this mission, I am commander, and I feel really honored. At the same time, I also feel a very heavy responsibility on my shoulders. I do hope that when we enter the Tiangong 1 spacecraft we are going to fulfill our responsibilities as Chinese astronauts."

The Shenzhou 10 mission will be China's longest human space voyage, surpassing a 13-day mark set by the Shenzhou 9 astronauts in June 2012. And unlike previous flights, Shenzhou 10's focus be on scientific research and experiments, according to state media.

Two days after launching from Jiuquan, the astronauts will dock with the Tiangong 1 space lab, a bus-sized module launched in September 2011 orbiting 210 miles above Earth as a testbed for experimentation and a destination for Chinese manned space missions.

The flight plan calls for automated and manual dockings with Tiangong 1, plus a "flyaround" of the space module to demonstrate advanced rendezvous techniques required for the next phase of the Chinese space program.

According to Wu Ping, a spokesperson for China's military-run manned space program, the astronauts will enter Tiangong 1 and conduct experiments in space medicine, technological research and address Chinese students in lessons from space.

"I'll demonstrate some physics experiments done in the space environment," said Wang Yaping, who will oversee the education lectures from space. "As an astronaut, I'm also a learner, like those students. I think we'll learn together and have a great time in space."

Wu said the Shenzhou 10 astronauts will follow a sleep cycle like on Earth, a lesson learned from previous missions, in which the crew staggered their sleep shifts to ensure at least one astronaut was awake at all times.

"According to our schedule, we have tens of experiments to do," said Zhang Xiaoguang, Shenzhou 10's pilot. "In this mission, we will synchronize with the schedule on Earth. Compared with the last mission, we improved our shifts and the improved schedule will ensure that each of us will get enough sleep."

As China's space missions become longer, officials have put stronger emphasis on crew comfort.

"For dining, our nutrition experts made up space menus for us," Zhang said. "They try their best to make us eat well. In space, there are cameras and diaries. We will take notes of what we feel and all the beautiful things we see."

Shenzhou 10 is China's fifth human space mission, coming 10 years after astronaut Yang Liwei orbited the Earth alone for less than a day in October 2003.

Missions since Yang's historic flight have included a spacewalk and dockings with Tiangong 1, gradually extending the length of the journeys from hours to weeks.