The story so far: China achieved a new milestone on May 30 when it sent its first civilian into space— payload specialist Professor Gui Haichao, who works with Beijing’s Beihang University.
Apart from Mr. Gui, mission commander Jing Haipeng and spacecraft engineer Zhu Yangzhu reached China’s Tiangong space station at 4:29 PM, aboard the Shenzhou 16 spacecraft. The three-member crew will complete a five-month mission at the space station, relieving the Shenzhen 15 crew, which has been at the space station for six months and is set to return to Earth in June.
With the successful landing of a second manned crew aboard its space station, the Chinese Manned Space Agency aims to land astronauts on the moon before 2030.
