China’s Shenzhou-19 spacecraft, with three astronauts on board, successfully docked today with the Tianhe core module of the Tiangong space station, the China Manned Spacecraft Agency announced.
The docking was completed at 11:00 (03:00, in Lisbon), after a process that took around six and a half hours, since the launch of the spacecraft from the Jiuquan base, in the desert in the north of the country.
The Shenzhou-19 crew is led by Cai Aerospace Propulsion.
The three astronauts will enter the Tianhe module, where they will live with the Shenzhou-18 crew, made up of Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu, who have been at Tiangong since April. The two crews will remain together for the next few days until the Shenzhou-18 crew begins their journey back to Earth.
During a six-month stay on the station, Shenzhou-19 astronauts will carry out scientific research, including testing the construction of lunar habitats using bricks made from simulated lunar soil material.
This is the eighth manned mission to visit Tiangong, which will operate for about ten years and is expected to become the world’s only space station from 2024 if the International Space Station, a US-led initiative, is withdrawn as planned this year. year.
Beijing has reinforced its space program with strategic investments, reaching important milestones such as landing on the far side of the Moon with the Chang’e 4 probe and arriving at Mars, being the third country to do so, after the United States and the former Soviet Union.
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