TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

China launches crewed mission to dock with space station

(Associated Press)

Beijing

Mon, October 17, 2016 Published on Oct. 17, 2016 Published on 2016-10-17T07:00:24+07:00

Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng, right, and Chen Dong, left, wave farewell to the crowd before getting on Shenzhou 11 spacecraft at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, Oct. 17, 2016. The spacecraft will dock with the Tiangong 2 space station within two days and the astronauts will stay there for 30 days to test the complex's ability to support their life. (Chinatopix via AP/File)

C

hina has launched a pair of astronauts into space on a mission to dock with an experimental space station and remain aboard for 30 days.

The Shenzhou 11 mission took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on the edge of the Gobi Desert in northern China at 7:30 a.m. (2330 GMT) Monday aboard a Long March-2F carrier rocket.

It will dock with the Tiangong 2 space station precursor facility within two days, conduct experiments in medicine and various space-related technologies, and test systems and processes in preparation for the launching of the station's core module in 2018.

Following the attachment of two experiment modules, the entire station is designed to begin full operations in 2022 and will operate for at least a decade.