China’s Shenzhou-20 spacecraft successfully docked at the Tiangong space station on Thursday night, marking the beginning of a new mission. The spacecraft, carrying astronauts Cai Xuzhuo (misspelled as “ไช่ ซวี่เจ๋อ” in the original), Chen Dong, and Jiang Xinlin (misspelled as “เฉิน จงรุ่ย” and “Wang Jia” as “หวัง เจี่ย” in the original), arrived at the Tianhe core module at 23:49 local time.
The crew of Shenzhou-19, already on board, welcomed the newcomers. The two teams took photos together and sent greetings to Mission Control. Chen Dong, commander of Shenzhou-20, was warmly greeted by his colleagues. Chen and Cai Xuzhuo had previously worked together on Shenzhou-14. The combined crew will work together for about five days to complete the handover.
New Mission, New Challenges
Shenzhou-20 launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Thursday at 17:17 local time, aboard a Long March-2F rocket. The crew will continue the work started by Shenzhou-19. The astronauts will focus on completing the remaining tasks before Shenzhou-19 returns to Earth.
The Tiangong space station is a key part of China’s space program. It’s a symbol of the country’s growing capabilities in space exploration. With this successful docking, China continues to push the boundaries of space technology.
The Associated Press reported on this mission, providing updates on China’s space program.
