Shenzhou-18 astronauts enter space station to met with another trio of astronauts

A fresh round of in-orbit crew handover began on Friday (April 26) when the three astronauts from China's Shenzhou-18 spacecraft arrived at the nation's space station and met with another trio of astronauts.

The Shenzhou-17 crew opened the hatch at 5:04 a.m. (Beijing Time). The three space station occupants greeted the new arrivals, and they took group pictures.

The space get-together of the two crews kicked off the fourth in-orbit crew rotation in China's space station.

The six astronauts will live and work together for about 5 days to complete planned tasks and handover work, according to the China Manned Space Agency.