By Lu Yan

After a decade of preparation， Tang Hongbos space dream finally came true. On June 17， the 45-year-old astronaut was sent into space aboard the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft. Unlike his two fellow travelers， veteran astronauts Nie Haisheng and Liu Boming， this was Tangs maiden space journey.

Now， about a week after the launch， the crewmembers have established their daily routine inside Chinas space station. They will stay in orbit for three months.

“I am very proud to be selected for the Shenzhou-12 mission，” Tang said at a press conference before the mission. “I believe we will work together to turn the space station into a home in space.”

New tasks

The space flight is Chinas seventh manned mission to space and the first during the construction of Chinas space station.

Chinas manned space program has now entered a new phase. The program started in 1992 with a three-stage strategy. The goal of the first stage was to send an astronaut into space， which was achieved in 2003. The second stage involved sending manned spaceships up to space labs where astronauts could live temporarily and conduct experiments. The goal of the third stage is to build a permanent space station.

So far， China has sent about a dozen astronauts into space on seven manned spacecraft， launched two Tianzhou cargo spacecraft， and put Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2 space labs into orbit.

The first two stages of its manned space program have been completed， with the last manned mission in the second stage taking place nearly five years ago.

The third stage was ushered in with a flurry of activity， as the space stations core module Tianhe launched on April 29 and cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-2 took off on May 29. More manned and unmanned space flights to the space station have been scheduled for 2021-22.

The Shenzhou-12 mission differs from previous ones. During this mission， the astronauts are expected to spend longer periods outside the cabin with many rounds of extravehicular activities. It is also the first time that they will cooperate with an external robotic arm on the space station core module. The intelligent robotic arm will help the astronauts finish several tasks， such as executing extravehicular activities and operations， carrying cargo and checking the status of the capsule.

“The complexity and arduousness of these tasks will exceed the imagination，” Nie told the Peoples Daily.

Before the mission， astronauts increased the intensity of their training to be better prepared. One of the most difficult aspects of training was conducted underwater， which simulated the weightless environment in space. The astronauts needed to remain underwater wearing spacesuits for six hours at a time in order to master their movements.