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China Launches Shenzhou-16 Mission to Chinese Space Station 

Long March-2F rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-16 Manned Space Flight Mission, lifts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China's northwestern Gansu province, on May 30, 2023, heading to the Tiangong space station. (AFP)
Long March-2F rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-16 Manned Space Flight Mission, lifts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China's northwestern Gansu province, on May 30, 2023, heading to the Tiangong space station. (AFP)
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China Launches Shenzhou-16 Mission to Chinese Space Station 

Long March-2F rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-16 Manned Space Flight Mission, lifts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China's northwestern Gansu province, on May 30, 2023, heading to the Tiangong space station. (AFP)
Long March-2F rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-16 Manned Space Flight Mission, lifts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China's northwestern Gansu province, on May 30, 2023, heading to the Tiangong space station. (AFP)

China sent three astronauts to its now fully operational space station as part of crew rotation on Tuesday in the fifth manned mission to the Chinese space outpost since 2021, state media reported.

The spacecraft, Shenzhou-16, or "Divine Vessel", and its three passengers lifted off atop a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert in northwest China at 9:31 a.m. (0131 GMT).

The astronauts on Shenzhou-16 will replace the three-member crew of the Shenzhou-15, who arrived at the space station late in November.

The station, comprising three modules, was completed at the end of last year after 11 crewed and uncrewed missions since April 2021, beginning with the launch of the first and biggest module - the station's main living quarters.

China has already announced plans to expand its permanently inhabited space outpost, with the next module slated to dock with the current T-shaped space station to create a cross-shaped structure.

Leading the Shenzhou-16 mission was Jing Haipeng, 56, a senior spacecraft pilot from China's first batch of astronaut trainees in the late 1990s. He had travelled to space three times before, including two trips as mission commander.

Jing flew with Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao, both 36 and part of China's third batch of astronauts. The mission is Zhu's and Gui's first spaceflight.

Former military university professor Zhu will serve as spaceflight engineer while Gui, a professor at Beihang University, will serve as the payload specialist on the mission, managing science experiments at the space station.

Beijing is expected to launch one more crewed mission to the orbiting outpost this year.

Also by the end of 2023, China is due to a launch space telescope the size of a large bus.

Known as Xuntian, or "Surveying the Heavens" in Chinese, the orbital telescope will boast a field of view 350 times wider than that of the Hubble Space Telescope, which was launched 33 years ago.

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Monkeys Who Recently Died in Hong Kong's Zoo Had Been Infected with Melioidosis

Giant tubeworms on the seafloor surface at 2,500 meters water depth at the East Pacific Rise, a volcanically active ridge located where two tectonic plates meet on the floor of the Pacific Ocean in this undated photograph.CC BY-NC-SA Schmidt Ocean Institute/Handout via REUTERS
Giant tubeworms on the seafloor surface at 2,500 meters water depth at the East Pacific Rise, a volcanically active ridge located where two tectonic plates meet on the floor of the Pacific Ocean in this undated photograph.CC BY-NC-SA Schmidt Ocean Institute/Handout via REUTERS
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Monkeys Who Recently Died in Hong Kong's Zoo Had Been Infected with Melioidosis

Giant tubeworms on the seafloor surface at 2,500 meters water depth at the East Pacific Rise, a volcanically active ridge located where two tectonic plates meet on the floor of the Pacific Ocean in this undated photograph.CC BY-NC-SA Schmidt Ocean Institute/Handout via REUTERS
Giant tubeworms on the seafloor surface at 2,500 meters water depth at the East Pacific Rise, a volcanically active ridge located where two tectonic plates meet on the floor of the Pacific Ocean in this undated photograph.CC BY-NC-SA Schmidt Ocean Institute/Handout via REUTERS

Nine monkeys who died in Hong Kong's oldest zoo in two days this week had been infected with an endemic disease, possibly after some digging work near their cages, officials said on Friday.

Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung said in a press briefing that the animals in the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens contracted melioidosis and the disease later caused them to develop sepsis, according to The AP.

Yeung stressed that such infections typically occur through contact with contaminated soil and water and that there is generally no danger to humans from contact with infected animals or people.

“We're saddened by the passing of the nine monkeys,” he said.

Eight monkeys were found dead on Sunday, and another died Monday after displaying unusual behavior. The deceased animals were a De Brazza’s monkey, a common squirrel monkey, four white-faced sakis and three cotton-top tamarins — a species listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

According to Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection, melioidosis is caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, which is widespread in soils and muddy water.

Yeung said the park conducted digging work to repair some irrigation pipes under the flower bed near the monkey cages in early October and that the deaths might be related to that.

He said the monkeys might have come into contact with the bacteria after the park's staff walked into their cages with possibly contaminated shoes. Another possibility is that some infected monkeys had close contact with other monkeys, he said.

“The incubation period for melioidosis in primates is about a week and this matched with the period after the soil digging work,” he said.

Edwin Tsui, the controller of the center, said the incident only happened in a single zone and its impact on Hong Kong residents would be very low.

Yeung on Monday held an urgent interdepartmental meeting about the deaths with the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and the Department of Health.

Another De Brazza’s monkey also displayed unusual behavior and appetite but offiicials said its condition remained stable on Friday.

The Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens — the oldest park in the former British colony — fully opened to the public in 1871. It is a rare urban oasis in the downtown Central district of the financial hub, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.