Shenzhou XIX crew greeted at 'space home'

陈小将

The three crew members of Shenzhou XIX entered the Tiangong space station on Wednesday afternoon, as the spaceship successfully completed docking maneuvers after a long-haul flight.

Mission commander Senior Colonel Cai Xuzhe, Lieutenant Colonel Song Lingdong and Lieutenant Colonel Wang Haoze were greeted with hugs at the space station by their Shenzhou XVIII peers, who are scheduled to return to Earth early next week.

Shenzhou XIX, which started its journey into space atop a Long March 2F carrier rocket that blasted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China at 4:27 am on Wednesday, docked with the front port of the Tianhe core module — the main body of Tiangong — after a six-and-a-half-hour flight.

Following the docking process, the Shenzhou XIX crew spent nearly two hours on preparatory work to enter the space station, which included readying related equipment and changing into intravehicular suits from their pressure suits.

Meanwhile, the Shenzhou XVIII astronauts — mission commander Senior Colonel Ye Guangfu and crew members Lieutenant Colonel Li Cong and Lieutenant Colonel Li Guangsu — waited inside the connection cabin.

After all preparations were done, Ye's team opened a hatch in the connection cabin at 12:51 pm to welcome the new team of astronauts. The first to step out of the Shenzhou XIX spaceship was Cai, followed by Song and Wang, who were all welcomed with hugs by the Shenzhou XVIII astronauts.

The six astronauts then exchanged greetings inside the Tianhe module. Ye said he and his team were very happy and excited to see the arrival of Cai's crew, adding that over the next few days, the two teams will work together inside "this space home".