China launches 3
JIUQUAN SATELLITE LAUNCH CENTER, China (AP) — China launched a three-member crew to its orbiting space station on Thursday as part of its ambitious program that aims to put astronauts on the moon by 2030.
The Shenzhou-18 spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on the edge of the Gobi Desert in northwestern China atop a Long March 2-F rocket at 8:59 p.m. (1259 GMT).
The spacecraft’s three-member crew will relieve the Shenzhou-17 team, which has been staffing China’s Tiangong space station since last October.
The China Manned Space Agency, or CMSA, held a send-off ceremony — complete with flag-waving children and patriotic music — for the Shenzhou-18 crew earlier on Thursday, as the three astronauts prepared to enter the spacecraft.
The trio is made of Commander Ye Guangfu, 43, a veteran astronaut who took part in the Shenzhou-13 mission in 2021, and fighter pilots Li Cong, 34, and Li Guangsu, 36, who are spaceflight rookies.
Related articles
Minnesota Uber and Lyft driver pay package beats deadline to win approval in Legislature
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A plan to boost pay for Uber and Lyft drivers in Minnesota that lawmakers bel2024-05-22PrettyLittleThing billionaire Umar Kamani and new wife Nada host Disney
How to ensure your truly extravagant four-day wedding comes to a fairytale end...with a dusting of D2024-05-22Head and Sharma's electrifying opening stand earns Hyderabad 10
HYDERABAD, India (AP) — The opening pair of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma shared a massive 167-run2024-05-22A timeline of the collapse at FTX
FTX, once among the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, said this week that nearly all of2024-05-22OpenAI pauses ChatGPT voice after Scarlett Johansson comparisons
NEW YORK (AP) — OpenAI says it plans to halt the use of one of its ChatGPT voices after some users s2024-05-22Katie Price 'has vowed to name and shame the celebrity who raped her in explosive new book'
Katie Price has reportedly vowed to name and shame the celebrity who raped her in an explosive new b2024-05-22
atest comment