Shenzhou-17 astronauts enter space station, complete handover in four days

This image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Oct. 26, 2023 shows the Shenzhou-16 and Shenzhou-17 crew talking with each other inside China's space station. (Photo by Han Qiyang/Xinhua)

The three astronauts aboard China's Shenzhou-17 spaceship have entered the country's space station and met with another astronaut trio on Thursday, starting a new round of in-orbit crew handover.

The Shenzhou-16 crew opened the hatch at 7:34 p.m. (Beijing Time). The three space station occupants greeted the new arrivals, and they took group pictures.

Tang Hongbo, commander of the Shenzhou-17 mission, experienced the historic moment as one of the first Chinese astronauts to China's space station in June 2021 when launched into orbit on the Shenzhou-12 mission.

Now, the space complex Tang revisits has been extended into a versatile space lab with two additional modules and more sophisticated experimental facilities. He also set a new record for the shortest interval between two spaceflight missions by Chinese astronauts.

The space get-together of the two crews kicked off the third in-orbit crew rotation in China's space station.

According to the China Manned Space Agency, the six astronauts will live and work together for about four days to complete planned tasks and handover work.