UPDATE - New Chinese mission carrying 3 astronauts docks with space station

CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, LEED; ADDS DETAILS

By Saadet Gokce and Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA)— The new Chinese mission carrying three astronauts to the space station docked successfully, reported state-run media CGTN.

Astronauts of the Shenzhou-20, Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie will carry out experiments on several areas in the indigenously built Tiangong space station during the next six-month mission, the China Manned Space Agency said in a statement.

Chen Dong is the mission commander.

The crew will conduct experiments on life in space and human research, microgravity physics, and new space technologies, as well as extravehicular activities such as payload deployment and retrieval, cargo handling, and space debris protection device installation.

The astronauts will also experiment on developing artificial brain models and the preparation of superconducting materials, reported the South China Morning Post.

This is China's fifth manned flight mission of the application and development stage of its space station, as well as the 35th flight mission since the manned space project began.

The old crew of the Shenzhou-19 is scheduled to return to Earth next Tuesday.

The spaceship was blasted into space at 5.17 p.m. local time (0917GMT) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.