Shenzhou-17 Crew Enters China's Tiangong Space Station Hours after Launch

Shenzhou-17 Crew Enters China's Tiangong Space Station Hours after Launch

The Shenzhou-17 crew entered the Tianhe Core Module of China's space station on October 26, 2023, at 11:34 UTC (19:34 China Standard Time) They met with another astronaut (taikonaut) trio, starting a new round of in-orbit crew handover. 

The Shenzhou-17 manned spaceship was launched into space atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 11:14pm Thursday (Beijing Time) on October 26, 2023, sending the crew of three astronauts—Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin—to the space station for a six-month mission.

The Shenzhou-17 crew spacecraft made a fast, automated rendezvous and docked with the front port of the space station's core module Tianhe at 17:46 (Beijing Time). Hours later, the Shenzhou-16 crew aboard the space station, opened the hatch at 7:34pm (Beijing Time). The three space station occupants greeted the new arrivals and they took group pictures.

Tang, commander of the Shenzhou-17 mission, experienced a historic moment as one of the first batch of Chinese astronauts launched into orbit aboard the Shenzhou-12 mission to China's space station in June 2021. He is the first taikonaut to visit China's space station twice.

Now, the space complex Tang is revisiting has been extended into a versatile space lab with two additional modules and more sophisticated experimental facilities. He also set a new record for the shortest interval between two spaceflight missions by Chinese astronauts. According to the China Manned Space Agency, the six astronauts will live and work together for about four days to complete planned tasks and handover work. The Shenzhou-16 crew is expected to return to Earth on Oct. 31, 2023.

Shenzhou-17 is the sixth crew of three astronauts on a mission to the China Space Station. Shenzhou-17 is also the twelfth crewed and seventeenth flight overall of China's Shenzhou spaceflight program.

Shenzhou-17 Crew:

Hongbo Tang (Commander)

Shengjie Tang (Mission Specialist)

Xinlin Jiang (Mission Specialist)

Shenzhou-16 Crew:

Jing Haipeng (Commander) 

Zhu Yangzhu (Mission Specialist)

Gui Haichao (Mission Specialist)

Video Credit: China National Space Administration (CNSA)/China Central Television (CCTV) Video News Agency

Duration: 2 minutes, 37 seconds

Release Date: Oct. 26, 2023

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