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Added on the 25/04/2024 16:13:04 - Copyright : AFPTV - First images
China sends three astronauts to its Tiangong space station, putting a civilian scientist into space for the first time. IMAGES
The Shenzhou-16 crew takes off atop a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China. IMAGES
China sends a fresh crew to its Tiangong space station in the latest mission for a growing space programme that plans to send people to the Moon by 2030. The Shenzhou-17 blasted off from the Jiuquan launch site in arid northwest China at 11:14 am (0314 GMT) Thursday, carrying a three-astronaut team with the youngest average age since the space station's construction. IMAGES
Astronauts Jiang Xinlin, Tang Hongbo and Tang Shengjie participate in a farewell ceremony in China's Jiuquan. The Shenzhou-17 module carrying the trio to the station is scheduled to blast off at 11:14 am (0314 GMT) Thursday from the launch site in China's northwest. IMAGES
Chinese astronauts say goodbye before the launch of the Shenzhou-16 spacecraft, which will take off aboard a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China. It will carry mission commander Jing Haipeng on his fourth extra-terrestrial trip, as well as engineer Zhu Yangzhu and Beihang University professor Gui Haichao, the first Chinese civilian in space. IMAGES