On the night of Saturday, October 16, the Chinese spacecraft Shenzhou-13 with three astronauts on board successfully docked with the main module of the Tiangong (Sky Palace) orbital station under construction, the PRC's Manned Space Flight Program Office reported.
It is noted that this happened about seven hours after the launch, and the Chinese cosmonauts (taikonauts) will spend six months in orbit. During this time, the crew plans to perform two or three spacewalks, as well as conduct several scientific experiments.
The Changzheng-2F launch vehicle with the Shenzhou-13 manned vehicle was launched from the Jiuquan cosmodrome in the Gansu province in northern China on October 16 at 00:23 local time (19:23 October 15 Moscow time).
The crew included the commander of the team Zhai Zhigang, Ye Guangfu and the woman-cosmonaut Wang Yaping, who in 2013, according to the website kp.ru, became the first Chinese woman in history to visit space.
