By 
May 30th, 2023
Image credit: CCTV/CNSA/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s Shenzhou-16 crewed spaceship successfully docked with the Tiangong space station on Tuesday.
Following launch, the mission conducted a fast (6.5 hours) automated rendezvous and docked with the radial port of the space station core module Tianhe, forming a combination with three modules and three spacecraft.
Riding atop a Long March 2F Y16 carrier rocket, the taikonaut trio blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.
New Shenzhou-16 crew onboard with Shenzhou-15 astronauts.
Image credit: CCTV/CNSA/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Five month stay
The crew — Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao – are expected to stay in space for five months, during which they will witness the dockings of the Tianzhou-5 cargo craft and the Shenzhou-17 crew spaceship, as well as the departures of the Shenzhou-15 piloted spaceship and Tianzhou-5.
Shenzhou-16 astronauts joined the already orbiting Shenzhou-15 crew: Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu.
Depiction of Shenzhou-16 spacecraft approaching docking port.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
They will hand over tons of supplies including maintenance and operation tools, food, clothing, and test samples for application systems stocked up in the three-module configuration consisting of the core module Tianhe and two lab modules respectively named Wentian and Mengtian.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
“They will stay in orbit for five months and go through two times of rotation and work handover. They will swap places with the Shenzhou-15 crew and welcome the Shenzhou-17 crew,” said Huang Weifen, chief designer of the astronaut system.
Huang added that the new crew will also carry out a spacewalk, carry out long-term maintenance, perform a large number of space science experiments and tests, and deliver space lectures. “So, their workload is quite heavy.”
High-level research
The just-arrived crew are expected to under take high-level scientific research in the study of novel quantum phenomena, high-precision space time-frequency systems, the verification of general relativity, and the origins of life.
Image credit: CGTN/Inside Outer Space screengrab
The Shenzhou-16 mission is the first piloted flight after China’s space station entered a stage of application and development.
The mission represents China’s 11th crewed mission with the Shenzhou spacecraft series, now completing 15 flight missions, including 10 crewed spaceflights, since the Shenzhou-1 launched in 1999.
Given the Shenzhou-16 mission, there are now 17 people from 5 nations in low Earth orbit: onboard China’s station (6) and onboard the International Space Station (11).
For videos focused on the Shenzhou-16 launch, rendezvous and docking, go to:
Posted in Space News
