Shenzhou XVII mission arrives at Tiangong

The astronauts in the Shenzhou XVII mission, which launched on Thursday morning, arrived at the Tiangong space station on Thursday night.

After flying about six and a half hours, the Shenzhou XVII spaceship docked with the front port of the Tianhe core module, the main body of Tiangong.

Following the docking, the Shenzhou XVII crew spent nearly two hours on preparatory work, such as taking off their pressure suits and wearing the intravehicular work suits as well as re-pressurizing the connection cabin, to pave the way for their entry into the space station.

After all preparations had been done, the Shenzhou XVI crew, who have been in orbit for five months, opened a hatch on the Tianhe module at 7:34 pm and welcomed the newly arrived trio.

The two teams hugged and then took a group selfie to applause from ground controllers.

The Shenzhou XVII crew members — mission commander Senior Colonel Tang Hongbo, Lieutenant Colonel Tang Shengjie and Lieutenant Colonel Jiang Xinlin, all from the People's Liberation Army Astronaut Division — embarked on their space journey at 11:14 am as their carrier, a 20-story-tall Long March 2F rocket, soared into clear skies from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China's Gobi Desert.

After spending about four days together for handover work, Tang Hongbo and his teammates will take over Tiangong and the Shenzhou XVI crew, mission commander Major General Jing Haipeng, Colonel Zhu Yangzhu and Professor Gui Haichao, will fly back to Earth.

The Shenzhou XVII astronauts are scheduled to stay inside the space station for around six months and return to Earth around April.