AKIPRESS.COM - China launched a manned spacecraft from the Gobi Desert on Monday morning, according to The New York Times.

Images showed the astronauts giving a salute seconds before launch, and 15 minutes later they could be seen on the live feed clasping their gloved hands, apparently a sign of a successful launch.

The spacecraft, called Shenzhou-11, is to dock with an orbiting space laboratory launched last month.

The astronauts are expected to stay in the Tiangong-2 lab for 30 days before returning to Earth, the deputy director of China’s Manned Space Agency, Wu Ping, said.

The mission is China’s sixth manned space launch, and by staying aloft for 30 days the two astronauts will more than double the national record for staying in space.

The main tasks in the space lab will include testing computers, as well as propulsion and life support systems and other experiments.

The activities in the lab are intended to help China reach its goal of launching a more permanent space station, Tianhe-1, in 2018.

In 2020, China aims to send an unmanned rover to Mars.

The target date for sending an astronaut to the moon is 2025.