A confirmation has arrived that three Chinese taikonauts of the Shenzhou 12 mission have reached the Tianhe core module of the Chinese space station with an automated docking maneuver. They blasted off about 6.5 hours earlier atop a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. They are the first crew of the Chinese space station. This is the longest-duration mission in the history of the Chinese space program but it’s only the first, as crew rotation is scheduled about every three months.