22 June 2021
For Shenzhou 12 mission, 3 taikonauts, namely Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo, became the first to enter the Chinese space station. "I think the trio is a great combo," said Huang Weifen, Deputy Chief Designer of the astronaut system of China's manned space program. "We chose Nie as the captain for his two-time space flight experience and Liu Boming for his previous experience in extravehicular activity, while Tang is the backup taikonaut for Shenzhou-11 mission and he excelled in every area." The selection has been made based on aspects such as experience, age, individual characters, physical performance and mental health. The synergy or compatibility among different members is also a big factor.
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RELATED: Why were the 3 taikonauts selected for the Shenzhou 12 mission?
In an interview with the Chief Designer of the astronaut system of China's manned space programme, CGTN discovered how the Chinese astronauts, known as taikonauts, were selected for the Shenzhou 12 manned mission.
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22 June 2021
Chinese scientists have devised a system to recycle water from taikonauts's urine, breath and sweat produced. The device could save up to 100 million RMB (about 15.5 million USD) over a period of 6 months with 3 crew members in orbit. The system has been installed in the Tianhe module, meaning urine can be processed into distilled water, some of which will be used for toilet flushing. The remainder, together with collected breath condensate, can be purified further for electrolytic oxygen generation and experiments, said Cui Guangzhi, one of the designers of the urine treatment system.
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Astronauts enjoy many food, beverage choices in orbit

23 June 2021
Chinese researchers developed the Kylin operating system to replace Western products the country relied on. Sending it into space meant combining security, reliability and performance, engineers say. The core of the Kylin computer operating system has been guarded as a national secret and its use in the country’s space programme has only just been officially confirmed. Its main codes were written by Chinese military researchers, according to developer China Electronics Corporation (CEC), but it also includes elements of Unix-like software FreeBSD, parts from Linux, and a user interface similar to Windows.
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23 June 2021
Wang Xiaojun, head of the state-owned China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), outlined a roadmap for China's future manned Mars exploration missions in his talk "The Space Transportation System of Human Mars Exploration" at the Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX 2021) via a virtual link.
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