Shenzhou-18 manned spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, (launch) at 8:59 pm on 25th, April from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China. After a fast, automated docking (对接) with the radial port of the space station's core module Tianhe, the Shenzhou-17 crew opened the hatch at 5:04 am on 26th , April. The three space station astronauts greeted the new (arrival), and they took group pictures. The space get-together of the two crews kicked off the fourth in-orbit crew rotation (轮换) in China's space station. The six astronauts will live and work together for about 5 days (complete) planned tasks and handover work.
Taikonauts in orbit will conduct experiment of plants. More than 100 Arabidopsis seeds will be grown space for about four weeks. The purpose for the three pilot-turned taikonauts (be) to study the changes in the function and gene expression of plant stem cells in a microgravity environment (scientific). Another unique task is to create an "aquarium" and raise fish in zero gravity, by means of creating a simplified aquatic ecosystem (employ) fish and algae (藻类), to analyze how the space environment affects their growth system balance. If the experiment succeeds, it will be the latest achievement proves China's space power on the world stage.
