China Sends Fresh Three-Man Crew to its Space Station

China sent off three fresh astronauts to the China Space Station beginning with a beautiful night launch, the first of its kind in the Chinese manned space program. The Shenzhou-15 crew will work with the Shenzhou-14 crew of three already on the station. This is the first time that there will be six astronauts on the space station at the same time. This will be the first “hand-off” with both crews present, and is done in a formal ceremony The 14 crew will remain on the station for some days while the new crew becomes acquainted with the station and the work the previous crew has done in preparing the station for full function. This is the official end of the construction phase of the Tiangong space station, and now the work of science and experimentation begins.