Crew of China's Shenzhou-13 space mission sorts out cargo. /China Media Group

Setting up a living environment in the space station is always the first task for astronauts before they start subsequent in-orbit work.

China launched its Shenzhou-13 astronauts, or taikonauts, on October 16. The trio entered the core module Tianhe of China's space station the same day, starting their planned six-month stay there.

The next morning, the crew opened the hatch of the cargo cabin and entered the Tianzhou-3 cargo ship, where they checked and sorted out the cargo, and carried the necessary living and work supplies to the core module.

The taikonauts entered the Tianzhou-2 cargo ship in the afternoon and transferred as planned the emergency supplies and spare parts temporarily stored in the core module during the orbiting test to the cargo ship.

Taikonauts wearing masks test the microbes and fungi in the samples to analyze whether they meet the safety standards. /China Media Group

The space station was left in an uninhabited state after the departure of the Shenzhou-12 crew. So after their entry, the Shenzhou-13 crew first reset the state inside the cabin, including connecting the ventilation pipelines to each cabin segment, purifying the harmful gas, adjusting the temperature, and restoring the drinking water equipment.

Besides, they will carry out medical checks such as environmental control maintenance and health maintenance. With help from the ground support team, they will also check the water and air circulation systems.