CHINA AIMS FOR THE STARS
JIUQUAN: The first astronauts arrived at China’s new space station in the country’s longest crewed mission to date, a landmark step in establishing Beijing as a major space power.
The trio blasted off on a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan launch centre in northwest China’s Gobi desert, and their craft docked around seven hours later at the Tiangong station, where they will spend the next three months.
State broadcaster CCTV showed a live feed from inside the spacecraft during the journey, with the three astronauts lifting their helmet visors after it reached orbit as one smiled and waved at the camera.
The group are expected to open the door to the Tianzhou-2 cargo craft – which docked earlier with the core module – overnight.
NASA administrator Bill Nelson congratulated China on its first crewed mission in nearly five years, saying in a statement: “I look forward to the scientific discoveries to come.”