Shenzhou 11


Shenzhou 11 was a crewed spaceflight of the Shenzhou program of China, launched on 17 October 2016 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. It was China's sixth crewed space mission, and its longest to date, at 33 days. Two days after launch, it docked with the Tiangong-2 space laboratory, which had been launched on September 15, 2016.

Crew

The crew consisted of two astronauts. Commander Jing celebrated his 50th birthday while in orbit.
The mission selected two crew instead of three to extend supplies to increase mission length for their long duration stay.

Mission

The Shenzhou 11 launched at 07:30 on 17 October 2016 local time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center using a Long March 2F launch rocket.
The mission's main objective was to rendezvous and dock with the Tiangong-2 space laboratory and gain experience from a 30-day residence, and to test its life-support systems.
In the two days after the launch, it changed its orbit five times to arrive 52 kilometers behind the Tiangong-2 space lab. It autonomously rendezvoused and docked with Tiangong-2 at 3:24 p.m. EDT in October 18, 2016, while both spacecraft were at an altitude of.
The crew landed successfully after the 33-day mission on 18 November 2016. The reentry module of the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft landed in Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia around 2:15 pm after undocking from the space lab on 17 November.