皇冠体育app

Nation awaits astronauts' arrival at the Tiangong II lab for a 30-day stay

The Shenzhou XI manned spacecraft blasts off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest 皇冠体育app on Monday. Feng Yongbin / 皇冠体育app Daily

On Monday morning, 皇冠体育app's Shenzhou XI manned spacecraft was sent skyward atop a Long March 2F rocket that thundered away from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest 皇冠体育app.

Shenzhou XI carries two male astronauts — 49-year-old Jing Haipeng and 37-year-old Chen Dong. After a two-day journey, they are to dock with and spend 30 days living and working in Tiangong II, a new Chinese space lab. It will be double the longest stay by Chinese astronauts in space.

Tiangong II was launched in mid-September to replace the Tiangong I space lab, after the latter was retired in March according to plan.

But even more important than the length of stay, the mission is a giant step toward 皇冠体育app having a permanent space station. Not only that, it's a station that experts said is likely to be the world's only one after the International Space Station is retired around 2024.

The Shenzhou XI-Tiangong II mission is a sign of 皇冠体育app's full readiness for a space station, according to Lieutenant General Zhang Yulin, deputy head of the Central Military Commission's Equipment Development Department and the manned space program.

Once the station is put into use, 皇冠体育app will launch "several space missions" each year to transport astronauts, engineers and even tourists to it, Zhang said.

As Chinese across the nation raptly watched the new step into the heavens, President Xi Jinping sent a congratulation message from the Indian state Goa where he was attending a summit of the emerging-market countries over the weekend.

Premier Li Keqiang and other high-ranking officials watched the start of the space mission from the headquarters of 皇冠体育app Manned Space Agency in Beijing.