BEIJING — Three Chinese astronauts are getting ready to enter their home for the next week after their capsule docked with an orbiting state station.
State media reported that automated controls guided the Shenzhou 10 space capsule in its successful docking with the Tiangong-1 space lab Thursday.
The Xinhua News Agency says the astronauts will later enter the module to conduct experiments. During the mission, which started Tuesday, the astronauts will also conduct a manual docking between the space capsule and the lab. They will also deliver a series of science lectures from the Tiangong — part of an outreach to increase the space program's popularity among younger Chinese.
The latest Shenzhou flight is the fifth manned mission in a decade in China's methodical manned space program.