JIUQUAN, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu will carry out the Shenzhou-13 spaceflight mission, and Zhai will be the commander, announced the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) at a press conference Thursday.
Zhai performed China's first spacewalk in the Shenzhou-7 mission in 2008. Wang, who attended the Shenzhou-10 mission in 2013, will be the first Chinese female astronaut to visit China's space station and carry out extravehicular activities. Ye is a new comer to space, according to Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the CMSA.
The trio will stay in orbit for six months, which will be a regular duration for following Chinese astronauts to work and live in the space station, Lin said.