Central Radio Network Beijing reported on May 23, according to the China Manned Space Engineering Office news, Shenzhou 16 manned spacecraft and Long March 2F remote 16 carrier rocket assembly 22 transferred to the launch area, plans to launch in the near future.

The Shenzhou 16 manned spacecraft and the Long March 2F-Yao 16 carrier rocket are in transit on May 22. (Source: Xinhua News Agency)

According to China's 2023 manned space "task list", the launch of Shenzhou 16 this month will be followed by the launch of Shenzhou 17 in October. During this period, there is a particular focus of attention, that is, the third batch of Chinese astronauts will board the stage of the space station, Shenzhou 16 and 17 astronauts will appear for the first time flight engineers and payload experts of the two types of personnel.

The third batch of preparatory astronauts will be selected by 2020

According to the news of China Manned Space Engineering Office on October 1, 2020, the selection of the third batch of preparatory astronauts in China's manned space engineering project has been completed, and a total of 18 preparatory astronauts (including 1 female) have been selected, including 7 space pilots, 7 space flight engineers and 4 payload experts, who will become the new members of China's astronaut team.

According to reports, in order to meet the needs of China's space station engineering mission, the third batch of preparatory astronauts added two categories of space flight engineers and payload experts on the basis of space pilots. Among them, space pilots and space flight engineers are mainly responsible for direct control and management of spacecraft, and carry out related technical tests. Payload specialists are mainly responsible for on-orbit operations of space science experiment payloads.

Space pilots are selected from active Air Force pilots, space flight engineers are selected from engineering and technical personnel specializing in aerospace engineering and related fields, and payload experts are selected from scientific researchers in the field of space science research and application of manned space engineering.

For the first time, there may be astronauts who are not pilots.

At present, the flight crew of the Shenzhou 16 mission has not yet been announced, and according to analysis, the probability is still high that three people will be retained.

According to reports, since the successful launch of "God Five", to Shenzhou 15, China has sent 16, 26 astronauts into space, and the first batch of 9 active astronauts and the second batch of 7 people have all achieved flight. It is expected that the Shenzhou 16 crew will still "take the old with the new", led by the old generation of astronauts, and there will be a third batch of astronauts for the first time, which will be one of the biggest attractions of this mission.

If the astronauts of Shenzhou 16 and 17 will appear for the first time in the two categories of flight engineers and payload experts, it means that for the first time, there will be "astronauts" from non-pilots to carry out missions in space.

A "payload specialist" does not require a pilot background

According to reports, payload experts are classified as astronauts according to the task, which refers to the scientific researchers who conduct scientific and applied research and other experimental work in the space station, in short, payload experts are astronauts who participate in space experiment operations. With the deepening of space science and technology activities, space science and technology activities are becoming more and more specialized, so payload experts came into being. Payload specialists do not require pilot background, but must have professional training in science, medicine, engineering and other fields and have extensive operational experience, mainly responsible for the operation of relevant experimental loads.

According to reports, different countries at different stages, the astronauts involved in space experiment operations are called different names, such as the United States in the Apollo moon landing stage called "scientist astronauts", in the space shuttle stage called "payload experts"; Russia called the Mir space station phase "research astronauts" and so on.

What are the requirements for selecting a "load specialist"

On October 2, 2022, the China Manned Space Engineering Office released news that in order to meet the needs of the follow-up flight missions of the manned space project, the selection of the fourth batch of preparatory astronauts in China has recently started. A total of 12 to 14 preparatory astronauts were selected, including about two payload experts.

Payload specialist candidates need to have a PhD in a relevant field of expertise, have worked in the relevant industry for no less than three years, and be between the ages of 30 and 45. Payload specialists must also meet certain physical requirements, ranging from 162 to 175 cm for men and 160 to 175 cm for women.