Astronauts in the orbiting lab module Tiangong-1 received their first e-mail from Earth yesterday afternoon, the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) confirmed.

The e-mail, containing photos, text and videos, was sent through a special communication channel between the control center and the lab module, the center said.

The Tiangong-1 space module and Shenzhou-9 spaceship, which docked on Monday, successfully finished a maneuver yesterday to keep their orbit.

Deng Yibing, chief engineer of the astronaut training center, said that the astronauts had been busy checking the facilities and doing experiments over the past day.

Although they experience 16 sunrises and sunsets every 24 hours as the orbiter circles Earth every 90 minutes, they rest in line with Earth time.