Shenzhou XIX crew greeted at 'space home'

The three crew members of Shenzhou XIX entered the Tiangong space station on Wednesday afternoon, as the spaceship successfully completed docking maneuvers after a long-haul flight.

Mission commander Senior Colonel Cai Xuzhe, Lieutenant Colonel Song Lingdong and Lieutenant Colonel Wang Haoze were greeted with hugs at the space station by their Shenzhou XVIII peers, who are scheduled to return to Earth early next week.

Shenzhou XIX, which started its journey into space atop a Long March 2F carrier rocket that blasted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China at 4:27 am on Wednesday, docked with the front port of the Tianhe core module — the main body of Tiangong — after a six-and-a-half-hour flight.