Shenzhou-10 spacecraft successfully reached the Tiangong-1 Space Station last Thursday, as reported by BBC News.
Onboard the spacecraft were three Chinese astronauts Zhang Xiaoguang, Wang Yaping, and Nie Haisheng. They started their 15-day mission last Tuesday with the launching of Shenzou-10; the Xinhua news agency reported that the spacecraft had an automated dock at exactly 1:11 PM Beijing time (1:11 AM EST).
The successful sealing was confirmed at 4:17 PM Beijing time when the three astronauts completed with their pressure tests and was finally on-board the Tiangong-1 space station.
The President of China, Xi Jinping announced on a television message broadcasted to the astronauts “Shenzhou-10 spacecraft has been successfully launched and precisely put into orbit, which means that our country's fifth manned space mission has succeeded in the first phase.”
A major highlight would be the second Chinese female in space Wang Yaping providing a video lecture to students on Chinese grounds about how items move in the weightless setting of outer space.
President Xi expressed his feelings of excitement and happiness, and he believes that he is sharing the same feeling with everyone. The Tiangong-1 has been orbiting Earth for more than one year and will soon be replaced by the Tiangong-2 in one or two years time, Chinese still have not officially announced when.
The president added that the three Chinese astronauts have made the Chinese nation proud. He addressed them saying that due to their training and careful preparation, he is confident that they will complete their mission successfully.
The three astronauts will be spending the next 12 days inside the space station, hoping to advance China’s space presence. The country is also hoping to be in line with nations such as Russia and the United States in sending independent manned missions to orbit. If they are successful with this project, they will be the third nation to successfully do this.
