Year-ender: China's sci-tech achievements in 2022 (4)

The three astronauts aboard China's Shenzhou XV spaceship meet with another astronaut trio on Nov 30, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

Successful launches of Shenzhou XIV and Shenzhou XV; two crews gather in orbit for first time

This year, China launched two new crewed spaceships -Shenzhou XIV and Shenzhou XV respectively on June 5 and Nov 29. On Nov 30, the six Chinese astronauts from the two missions marked a historic moment as they met inside the country's Tiangong space station.

It was the first time that six Chinese were in a space station at the same time and the first in-orbit gathering of two Chinese crews.

After accomplishing many "firsts" during their six-month space station mission, three Chinese astronauts on board the Shenzhou XIV manned spaceship returned to Earth safely on Dec 4. The Shenzhou XV astronauts are scheduled to stay in orbit for six months to carry out a number of assignments.