China sent a civilian into orbit for the first time in its history
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On May 30, China sent the Shenzhou-16 manned spacecraft into orbit with three taikonauts on board. The launch of the Changzheng-2F launch vehicle took place from the Jiuquan Cosmodrome in the northwest of the country at 9:31 a.m. Beijing time (4:31 a.m. Moscow time). This was reported by the state agency Xinhua.
The ship was sent to the Tiangong orbital station, launched in 2021. “Shenzhou-16” will make an automated approach and docking with the station, after which it will rotate the crew.
For the first time in the history of Chinese cosmonautics, a civilian member of the mission was sent into orbit, notes the American National Public Radio. He became the professor of Beijing University of Aviation and Cosmonautics Gui Haichao. Before him, all Chinese in space were military.
- After the launch of the Shenzhou-16 spacecraft, a record was set for the number of people in near-Earth orbit. Now there are 17 people in space: six Chinese citizens, five Americans, three Russians, two Saudis and one cosmonaut from the UAE.
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