china announces names of the first astronauts in new space station

China is preparing to launch its first manned mission to the space station that is being established in Earth’s orbit. China’s Manned Space Program Agency (CMSA) announced the names of astronauts at a press conference today. Nie Haisheng (56), Liu Boming (54) and Tang Hongbo (45) will take part in China’s first space station. During their mission, the astronauts will perform two spacewalks to install equipment on the space station. While no official announcement has yet been made as to when other parts of the space station will be launched, the module is expected to serve at least 10 years.