China launched a new three-person crew for its orbiting space station on Tuesday, with an eye to putting astronauts on the moon before the end of the decade.
The Shenzhou 16 spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan launch center on the edge of the Gobi Desert in northwestern China atop a Long March 2-F rocket just after 9:30 a.m. (0130 GMT) Tuesday.
Here are some quick facts about the Shenzhou 16 Spaceship Mission.
1. Shenzhou-16 Spaceship is the first crewed mission after China’s Tiangong space station entered the application and development stage.
2. The mission is crewed by three astronauts Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao with Jing serving as commander.
3. Jing Haipeng, is a veteran of the Shenzhou 7, 9 and 11 missions, while Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao are heading to orbit for the first time.
4. The launch will use a propellant-filled Long March-2F carrier rocket for the mission.
5. After entering orbit, the spaceship will perform a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the radial port of the space station core module Tianhe, forming a combination of three modules and three spacecraft.
6. The crew will stay in orbit for about five months and return to the Dongfeng landing site in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in November this year.
7. During their stay in Orbit, they will witness the arrival of the Shenzhou-17 crewed spaceship.
