Astronauts of the Shenzhou-14 and Shenzhou-15 missions pose for a group photo in the Wentian module of the Tiangong space station on Wednesday morning. Photo: Courtesy of China Manned Space Engineering Office/VCG

Liu Yang (left), Chen Dong and Cai Xuzhe, the crew members of the Shenzhou-14 mission wear specially made sweatshirts to welcome the Shenzhou-15 crew members. Photo: China Manned Space Engineering Office/VCG

Deng Qingming (left), Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu conduct training for the Shenzhou-15 mission in a spaceflight simulator. So far, the three astronauts formed China’s oldest spaceship crew, with an average age of 53. Photo: Courtesy of China Manned Space Engineering Office

Deng inspects an extravehicular activity space suit for a spacewalk in a training session. At the age of 32, he became one of China’s first group of 14 astronauts in 1998 and served as a backup crew member for 25 years. Photo: Courtesy of China Manned Space Engineering Office

Fei conducts training to work in space. He became an astronaut in 1998. He was the commander of the Shenzhou-6 mission, which was launched in October 2005. Photo: Courtesy of China Manned Space Engineering Office

Zhang undergoes underwater training. Born in 1976, Zhang was selected as an astronaut in May 2010 and served as a backup crew member for 12 years. The Shenzhou-15 mission is his first spaceflight mission. Photo: Courtesy of China Manned Space Engineering Office

The Shenzhou-15 crew members conduct underwater training for the spacewalk. Photo: Courtesy of China Manned Space Engineering Office

The Shenzhou-15 spacecraft atop a Long March 2F rocket lifts off on Tuesday night from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northern China, sending three astronauts into space for six months. Photo: VCG