China has launched its longest manned space mission sending two astronauts into orbit to spend a month aboard a space laboratory. The mission is part of a broader plan to have a permanent manned space station in service around 2022.The Shenzhou 11 blasted off on a Long March rocket at 7.30am (11.30pm GMT) on 16 October. The astronauts will dock with the Tiangong 2 space laboratory, which was sent into space last month. Chinas Jade Rabbit moon rover landed on the moon in late 2013 to great national fanfare, but soon suffered severe technical difficulties. The rover and the Change 3 probe that carried it there were the first soft landing on the moon since 1976. Both the US and the Soviet Union had accomplished the feat earlier. Shenzhou 11, will also carry three experiments designed by Hong Kong middle school students selected in a science competition, including one that will take silk worms into space.
