Successful Space Rendezvous

The manned spacecraft successfully completed its automated docking with the orbiting space lab at 3:31 a.m. on October 19, Beijing Time, according to Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center (BACC). which was launched on October 17 from northwest China’s Gobi Desert, began to approach automatically at 1:11 a.m. on October 19 and made contact with the space lab at 3:24 a.m. The rendezvous took place in the orbit about 393 km above Earth. The two astronauts aboard Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong, monitored and reported on the docking operation, relaying their findings to the control center. According to the mission schedule, once they enter the space module, the astronauts will stay there for 30 days. China’s sixth manned spacecraft, will undertake the longest-ever space mission in the country. The two astronauts will spend a total of 33 days in space. China is the third country, after the United States and Russia, to complete successfully space rendezvous and docking procedures.