China is gearing up
to send the third crew to its new Tiangong space station, with launch set for late Saturday U.S. Eastern time.
The Shenzhou 14 spacecraft,
sitting atop a Long March 2F rocket, was rolled out to its pad at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Sunday
Three Chinese astronauts
and another three-person backup crew are in quarantine ahead of launch at Jiuquan
The three Shenzhou 14
crewmates will spend around six months aboard Tianhe, the core module of the Tiangong space station.
They will be aboard to
receive two new modules, named Wentian and Mengtian, which are due to launch in late July and October, respectively.
another Long March 2F
rocket and the Shenzhou 15 spacecraft are being readied for potential use in case of an emergency in orbit.