China launched its first manned spacecraft as part of constructing a full-fledged space station. The Shenzhou-12 spacecraft successfully launched on Thursday with three astronauts from the Jiuquan launch site in Gansu Province.
Shenzhou-12 is carrying a long Mars 2F rocket, also known as ‘Divine Vessel’. Its destination is the Tianhe module of the space station.
The three astronauts, Haisheng (56), Liu Booming (54) and Tang Hongbo (45), will stay in Tianhe for three months. There is the ‘living quarters’ of the future space station. The astronauts will examine the various technological and technical aspects and its life-saving systems of the quarter, which is slightly larger than a city bus.
According to a Reuters report, this is a historic journey to set a record for the longest time spent in space as Chinese astronauts. The astronauts will work to advance the construction of the space station. The astronauts will spend another six months on an expedition there.
This is the third space mission by China out of 11 missions as planned.