China launches Shenzhou 16 spacecraft to Tiangong station

China's Shenzhou 16 spacecraft lifted off from the launch pad at 9:31 a.m. (8:31 a.m. Hanoi time), carrying three astronauts to the Tiangong station for a five-month mission.

China launches Shenzhou 16 spacecraft to Tiangong station

Shenzhou 16 spacecraft takes off from Jiuquan. Video : SCMP

The China Manned Space Administration (CMSA) announced the launch was a success about 19 minutes after the spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert in northern China as planned, according to SCMP. The astronauts are expected to dock with the Tiangong space station’s Tianhe core module, 400km above the ground, in nearly seven hours.

Shenzhou-16 mission commander Jing Haipeng stressed that the launch marked a new stage in the application and development of China's space program. This was Jing's fourth space flight, a record for a Chinese astronaut. He led the crew that included China's first resident to participate in a mission outside the Earth's atmosphere. Gui Haichao, a professor at Beijing Aerospace University, was China's first civilian astronaut and instrument expert. The third member of the crew was space flight engineer Zhu Yangzhu.

Astronauts of the Shenzhou 16 mission include Gui Haichao, Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu (from left to right). Photo: Xinhua

The astronauts will replace the crew members on the Tiangong station, and are expected to return to Earth next month. They will conduct various experiments and assemblies during the six months in space, while continuing their research. The crew will conduct orbital testing and study quantum phenomena, high-precision time-space frequency systems, test the general theory of relativity, and explore the origin of life.

Jing and his colleagues will be on the station and witness the docking process with the unmanned cargo ship Tianzhou 7 and the Shenzhou 17 mission.

An Khang (According to SCMP )

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