JIUQUAN, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo, the three Chinese astronauts for the upcoming Shenzhou-12 mission, met the press on Wednesday.

The Shenzhou-12 manned spaceship is expected to be launched Thursday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, for the construction of the country's space station, the China Manned Space Agency announced earlier on Wednesday.

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