
China launches 6-month crewed mission as it cements position as global space power
CNN
China launched a three-person crew into space in the early hours of Saturday -- a major step for the country's young space program, rapidly becoming one of the world's most advanced.
The three astronauts lifted off on the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft just past midnight local time, launched by a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert, located in Inner Mongolia.
They will dock at China's new space station, Tiangong (which means Heavenly Palace), six and a half hours after launch. They will live and work at the station for 183 days, or just about six months -- the country's longest mission yet.
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