Shenzhou XII docks with core space station module

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The Shenzhou XII spacecraft has docked with the Tianhe core module of China's space station, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

The agency said in a brief statement that the two spacecraft docked with each other at 3:54 pm on Thursday after a 6.5-hour rapid rendezvous and docking operation.

The three-member crew will soon enter the module and start their three-month mission inside the craft, the first, and central, section of China's space station, named Tiangong, or Heavenly Palace, the statement said.

Tianhe was lifted by a Long March 5B heavy-lift rocket at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province on April 29.