Astronauts embark on six-month space trip

China successfully launched its Shenzhou XX manned spaceship on Thursday, sending three astronauts to the Tiangong space station for a six-month mission.

A Long March 2F rocket blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China at 5:17 pm, carrying the spaceship with mission commander Senior Colonel Chen Dong and crew members Colonel Chen Zhongrui and Colonel Wang Jie onboard.

Shortly after crossing the Karman line — the boundary separating Earth's atmosphere and outer space at an altitude of 100 kilometers above sea level — the Shenzhou XX spaceship separated from its carrier rocket and activated rapid autonomous rendezvous-and-docking mode.