A still from a camera aboard the Shenzhou-16 spaceship showing the China Space Station, May 30, 2023. - CGTN
BEIJING, May 30 (Xinhua): The three astronauts aboard China's Shenzhou-16 spaceship entered the country's space station and met with another astronaut trio on Tuesday, starting a new round of in-orbit crew handover.
The Shenzhou-15 crew opened the hatch at 6:22 p.m. (Beijing Time).
The spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China at 9:31 am Tuesday (Beijing Time).
Shenzhou 16 is a diverse three-man crew which includes China’s first civilian to join a mission beyond the Earth’s atmosphere.
The three space station occupants greeted the new arrivals, and they took group pictures.
The space get-together kicked off the second in-orbit crew rotation in China's space station.
According to the China Manned Space Agency, the six astronauts will live and work together for about five days to complete planned tasks and handover work. - XInhua
