Taikonauts to celebrate National Day in space

JIUQUAN, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Taikonauts will celebrate China's National Day in space for the first time, said a Shenzhou-14 crew member on Saturday.

Liu Yang, China's first woman taikonaut, made the remarks at a press conference ahead of the launch, scheduled for 10:44 a.m. (Beijing Time) on Sunday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

Falling on Oct. 1, the National Day is the birthday of New China. The three Shenzhou-14 taikonauts -- Chen Dong, Liu Yang, and Cai Xuzhe -- will, for the first time, celebrate the birthday of the motherland and the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival during their six-month stay in space with their best wishes to the country and the Chinese people, Liu said.

She said the trio would carry out extravehicular activities, robotic arm operations, and many scientific experiments in orbit. They will complete the construction of the Chinese space station with a basic three-module structure consisting of one core module and two lab modules.

It is the second space trip for Liu, who became the first woman taikonaut on the Shenzhou-9 mission in June 2012.