Chinese astronauts send Spring Festival greetings from space station

BEIJING -- The Shenzhou-15 astronauts Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu sent their Spring Festival greetings from China's Tiangong space station in a video released by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on New Year's Eve.

The trio, dressed in blue jumpsuits with dark red patterns, each held a sticker showing their own calligraphy. Two of the stickers were written with the Chinese character "fu", meaning good luck, and the other sending good luck wishes from Tiangong.

"Wearing new clothes, eating dumplings and sending blessings -- the festive customs and atmosphere are the same here," said Zhang.

The astronauts have decorated the orbiting space station, about 400 km above Earth, with red couplets and Chinese knots.

"I believe that, at the moment, many people are sticking to their work posts just like us, which is also a kind of happiness," said Deng, adding that each individual's dreams and efforts can converge together into a vigorous force to promote the country's modernization drive.

Fei, the commander, wished the country and its people peace and prosperity.

In another video also released by the CMSA Saturday, the astronauts displayed 40 paintings by children in a "space painting exhibition" as a New Year gift to all Chinese people.

The paintings, launched together with the Shenzhou-15 mission on Nov. 29 last year, depicted the children's impressions and expectations on the country's rapid development, diverse cultural traditions and brave space exploration.

The Shenzhou-15 mission wraps up the last stage of the space station construction and kicks off the first stage of its application and development.

During their six-month stay in orbit, the Shenzhou-15 crew will carry out more than 40 experiments and tests in the fields of space science research and application, space medicine and space technology, and will conduct extravehicular activities on three to four occasions.