16 October 2016
Chen Dong is about to embark on his first space mission early Monday, 17 October. When flying aircrafts, he often wondered what it would be like to push through the Earth's atmosphere, he recalled. He will soon find out. The 38-year-old aviator is one half of the two-member team for the Shenzhou 11 manned space mission. Chen will work with Jing Haipeng and dock with China's Tiangong 2 space lab, where they will work for 30 days. Recruited as an astronaut in 2010, Chen is proud of being selected. "I'm so excited that my space dream will soon come true," he told Xinhua, "but I must remain calm because I need to focus on my mission."
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