17 Jun 2021 - China has launched 3t astronauts to begin manned mission of the country's first permanent space station, Tiangong Space Station.
Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo are to spend 3 months aboard space station, currently joined by a cargo Tianzhou spacecraft, some 380km above the Earth.
This is to be the longest crewed Chinese space mission to date.
The flight was declared a success after the Shenzhou-12 reached designated orbit. “The flight was perfectly smooth,” said Chen Shanguang, deputy director of manned space program. “This is the first step. There are many challenges ahead.”

Photo and video: Wiki common, CCTV, CGTN

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