China sends three astronauts to its space station | panorama

China has brought three astronauts on board to its space station. The Shenzhou 16 (Magic Ship) spacecraft was launched on Tuesday from Jiuquan Spaceport in northwest China’s Gobi Desert on a Long March 2F rocket.

The three astronauts are scheduled to replace their colleagues aboard the Chinese space station Tiangong (Palace of Heaven) after six months in space. This is the first crew change since the space station entered regular service earlier this year.

Among the three astronauts is a civilian for the first time in Chinese space history, scientist Joy Haichao of Beijing Aerospace University. He must take care of the experiences on the plane. All other Chinese astronauts so far have come from the Chinese military.

The other two astronauts are Major General Jing Haiping, who completed his fourth spaceflight with more missions than any other Chinese astronaut, and newcomer Zhou Yangzhu.

The three astronauts from Shenzhou 16 will initially live on the space station with the current crew of three before it returns to Earth on Saturday.

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