BEIJING - The three Chinese astronauts onboard the Shenzhou-13 spaceship entered the country's space station core module Tianhe this morning, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said in a statement. After Shenzhou-13 successfully completed a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the space station complex, which is composed of the core module Tianhe and the cargo crafts Tianzhou-2 and Tianzhou-3, the Shenzhou-13 crew entered the orbital capsule from the return capsule of the spaceship. After a series of preparations, Zhai Zhigang opened the hatch of the Tianhe core module. At 9:58 a.m. (Beijing Time), Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu entered the core module one by one. The trio is the second batch of crew in China's space station. Wang Yaping is the first female astronaut onboard the station.
- Xinhua
Caption
This screenimage captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center yesterday showsthe nation’s three astronauts Zhai Zhigang (center), Wang Yaping (right) andYe Guangfu waving after entering the space station core module Tianhe this morning. – Xinhua
