posted 04-24-2025 02:53 PM               

Shenzhou-20 crew arrives at China's Tiangong space station for 6-month stay

A new crew of three Chinese taikonauts have arrived on board their country's space station, beginning a six-month stay only six-and-a-half hours after they launched.

China's Shenzhou-20 crew docked to the Tiangong ("Heavenly Palace") orbiting outpost at 11:49 a.m. EDT (1549 GMT; 11:49 p.m. Beijing Time) Thursday (April 24), where they joined the outgoing Shenzhou-19 crew for a brief handover period. Shenzhou-20 commander Chen Dong, now on his third spaceflight — his second to fly to the station — led Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie on their first mission.