China launches new crew for space station, with eye to putting astronauts on moon before 2030

BEIJING (AP) — China has launched a spacecraft carrying a new three-person crew for its orbiting space station. This comes as it plans to put astronauts on the moon before the end of the decade. The Shenzhou 16 spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan launch center on the edge of the Gobi Desert in northwestern China atop a Long March 2-F rocket at 9:31 a.m. Tuesday. The crew, including China’s first civilian astronaut, will overlap briefly with three aboard the Tiangong station, who will then return to Earth after completing their six-month mission. China said Monday it plans to expand the space station and launch a crewed mission to the moon before 2030.