The youngest astronauts of China successfully reached its space station after over a six-hour journey.
According to Independent, a three-member crew, two men, and the first female space engineer in China were launched abroad in the Shenzhou-19 spaceship at 4:27 am Beijing time on Wednesday, October 30, 2024.
The young crew members will replace the astronauts who have been on the Tiangong space station for the past six months. New crew are expected to stay at the station till April or May 2025.
China built its own Tiangong space station after it was removed from the International Space Station following US concerns over the Chinese space program.
As per the China Academy of Sciences (CAS), the objective of the mission is to “achieve high-quality development in space science, drive breakthroughs in space technology innovation, upgrade space applications, rank among the world’s leading space nations, and establish China as a global leader in space science.”
Furthermore, Beijing has been expanding its space program for the past few years, aiming to become a global leader in space science by 2050.
Along with building its own space station, China has also sent an explorer to Mars and is looking forward to landing astronauts on the moon before 2030 and becoming the second nation in the world after the US to complete this feat.
