00:00 For the first time, China has sent a civilian into space.
00:03 Gui Haichao, born in 1986, is not a member of the People's Liberation Army.
00:08 The engineer is a payload expert and his day job is actually a university professor.
00:13 But perhaps more importantly, this Tuesday's mission was rather significant because it
00:17 marks once again China's permanent presence in space.
00:21 It's the second ever crew to travel to Tiangong space station since its completion.
00:27 Rotations between crews like this are set to take place every six months or so for around
00:32 10 years.
00:33 China has spent billions of U.S. dollars in improving and expanding its space program,
00:38 especially since its de facto exclusion from the International Space Station.
00:43 Back in 2011, the U.S. Congress decided that NASA needed its approval to share data with
00:49 its Chinese counterparts, so Beijing built its own space station.
00:54 And this morning, Chinese state media has been emphasizing and reiterating the Chinese
00:59 side's openness to international collaboration.
01:02 Collaboration that isn't likely to take place with the Europeans anytime soon.
01:06 Earlier this year, Europe's space agency announced that it won't be sending its astronauts to
01:11 Tiangong in the foreseeable future for financial and geopolitical reasons, despite years of
01:17 collaboration in the past.
