Chinese Astronauts Enter Space For A Six-Month Long Mission Constructing Country's Space Station

The three astronauts will stay in the space station for six months to complete its construction which is the longest manned mission in China's history. 

Chinese astronauts, from left, Ye Guangfu, Zhai Zhigang and Wang Yaping waving after entering the space station core module Tianhe. (Xinhua via AP)

New Delhi: Three Chinese astronauts successfully entered the space station core module Tianhe on Saturday. The country's space agency said, hours after the spaceship, Shenzhou-13, was launched for a record six-month mission reported PTI.

They will stay in the space station for six months to complete its construction which is the longest manned mission in China's history. 

The three astronauts Zhai Zhigang, 55; Wang Yaping, 41; and Ye Guangfu, 41; successfully docked with the under-construction space station, which is composed of the core module Tianhe and the cargo crafts Tianzhou-2 and Tianzhou-3. Wang is the first Chinese woman astronaut to visit China's space station.

The spaceship, launched on early Saturday morning, completed orbital status and conducted a fast-automated rendezvous and docking with Tianhe at 6:56 am (Beijing Time), forming a complex together with the cargo crafts Tianzhou-2 and Tianzhou-3. The whole process took approximately 6.5 hours, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said.

According to the report, the spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China's Gobi Desert. 

Crew commander Zhai said the length of the mission which is twice as long as the previous mission was the biggest challenge for the astronauts.

"The six-month stay in space without gravity is an unprecedented test for the astronaut's physical and psychological health, and the reliability of the equipment, Zhai said before lift-off.

The space agency will have another spacecraft on standby for launch at short notice in case of an emergency at Tiangong, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported. This is the second manned mission for China's space station, which is under construction. In addition to doing hundreds of aerospace medicine and physics experiments during their stay, the astronauts will also do two to three spacewalks and install new robotic arms to help with future construction operations, the report said.

Once ready, China will be the only country to own a space station while the ageing International Space Station (ISS) is now a collaborative project of several countries. It is expected to be a competitor to the ISS and perhaps may become a sole space station to remain in orbit once the ISS retires.