spacetoday.net: China launches new space station crew

China launches new space station crew

Posted: Fri, Jun 10, 2022, 5:51 PM ET (2151 GMT)
China launched a new crew to its space station over the weekend. A Long March 2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-14 spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 10:44 pm EDT June 4 (0244 GMT June 5). It docked with the Earth-facing port of the Tianhe docking hub just under seven hours after launch. The spacecraft delivered to the station astronauts Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe. The three will spend six months on the Tiangong station, overseeing the arrival of two modules scheduled for launch in July and October. Shenzhou-14 will hand over directly to the Shenzhou-15 mission, expected to launch in December, when Tiangong will briefly host six astronauts for the first time.