China's Shenzhou-13 spacecraft docks for 6-month mission

BEIJING (AP) — Three astronauts entered China’s space station for a six-month mission, setting to work Saturday after successfully docking aboard their Shenzhou-13 spacecraft.

The astronauts, two men and a woman, were seen floating around the module before speaking via a live-streamed video. They pledged to do their best in carrying out their missions.

The spacecraft was launched by a Long March-2F rocket at 12:23 a.m. Saturday and docked with the Tianhe core module of the Tiangong space station at 6:56 a.m., approximately six and a half hours later.

The three astronauts entered the Tianhe space station core module at about 10 a.m., the China Manned Space Agency said.

They are the second crew to move into the space station, which was launched last April. The first crew stayed three months.

The new crew includes two veterans of space travel. Zhai Zhigang, 55, and Wang Yaping, 41, and Ye Guangfu, 41, who is making his first trip to space.

“We’ll co-operate with each other, carefully conduct maneuvers, and try to accomplish all tasks successfully in this round of exploration of the universe,” said Wang in the video.

Wang is the first Chinese woman to board the Tiangong space station, and is also expected to become the China’s first female spacewalker.

They were seen off by a military band and supporters singing “Ode to the Motherland,” underscoring the national pride invested in the space program, which has advanced rapidly in recent years.

The crew will do three spacewalks to install equipment in preparation for expanding the station; assess living conditions in the Tianhe module and conduct experiments in space medicine and other fields.

China’s military-run space program plans to send multiple crews to the station...