China launches longest-ever manned space mission

History was made yesterday, as China on monday successfully launched the manned spacecraft Shenzhou-11, carrying two astronauts who will remain in space for 33 days, the longest manned mission in the country's space program to date.

Shenzhou-11, China's sixth manned spacecraft, will dock with space lab Tiangong-2, marking a step closer to its space station ambitions.

The spacecraft was launched with a Long March-2F Y11 carrier rocket at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gobi desert at 7:30 a.m. Monday Beijing time.

A report from chinese online newsportal xinhuanet, said the launch was declared a success by Zhang Youxia, commander-in-chief of China's manned space program, about 19 minutes after blast-off.

After docking with Tiangong-2, the astronauts will enter the space lab and stay there for 30 days.

Shenzhou-11 will then undock from Tiangong-2 and return to Earth within one day.

The two astronauts are commander Jing Haipeng, a 50-year-old veteran who participated in the Shenzhou-7 and Shenzhou-9 missions, as well as Chen Dong, 38, who is on his first space mission.

Tiangong-2 was launched into space on September 15. The rendezvous will happen at an orbit about 393 kilometers above Earth, the same height the future Chinese space station will operate at.

Wu Ping, deputy director of China's manned space engineering office, said at a press conference Sunday that Tiangong-2 has already reached its preset orbit 393 kilometers above the earth, adding that it was in stable condition and would meet the requirements for docking with Shenzhou-11 and accommodating the astronauts.

The mission aims to transport personnel and materials between Earth and Tiangong-2, as well as test meeting, docking and return processes.

Other objectives include aerospace medical experiments, space science experiments and in-orbit maintenance. The astronauts will conduct three experiments designed by middle school students from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, including raising silkworms in space.

Jing and Chen will also be special correspondents for Xinhua, sharing their work and life in space via text, photo, audio and video, using Xinhua's global media services.

During their 30 days in the space lab, the astronauts will work eight hours per day, six days a week, according to the Astronaut Center of China.

"It is synchronized with the sleep-wake cycle on Earth and marks a transitional design to long-term flight in a space station," said Huang Weifen, deputy chief designer of the astronaut system with the center.

The astronauts will have access to: almost 100 kinds of food; contact with Earth through video, audio and emails; and exercise through a stationary bike and treadmill.

The mission will prove China's capability of carrying out a medium-term manned space mission.

Zhang Yulin, deputy commander-in-chief of China's manned space program, said Shenzhou-11 marks the imminent end of the exploratory stage of China's manned space program. The program will carry out manned space missions on a regular basis with the establishment of its own space station.

China's space station, which is expected to debut around 2020, may become mankind's only foothold in space when the International Space Station retires in 2024.