Shenzhou-14 Astronauts Return Safely

Three Chinese astronauts on board the Shenzhou-14 manned spaceship returned to Earth safely on December 4, 2022, after accomplishing many “firsts” during their six-month space station mission.

Shenzhou-14’s return capsule, carrying astronauts Chen Dong, Liu Yang, and Cai Xuzhe touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 8:09 p.m. Beijing Time, according to the China Manned Space Agency. The astronauts were all in good physical condition, and the Shenzhou-14 manned mission was a complete success, the agency announced.

It is the first time for China’s manned spaceship to return to the Dongfeng landing site on a winter night. According to the agency, the “rapid return mode” that Shenzhou-14 used led to fewer circles around the orbit and shortened the return flight time. The Chinese research team has also developed many innovative technologies to help the Shenzhou-14 crew overcome the challenges of low temperatures and the dark night.

The three astronauts went to the space station on June 5, 2022. They completed multiple tasks during their mission, including overseeing five rendezvouses-and-dockings, performing three extravehicular activities, delivering a live science lecture, and conducting several scientific experiments.

They carried out space station platform inspections and tests, equipment maintenance, as well as the management of materials and the space station. They also unlocked and installed scientific experiment cabinets in the lab modules Wentian and Mengtian.

The Shenzhou-14 astronauts helped accomplish many “firsts” in China’s space history, including the first rendezvous and docking between two 20-ton-level spacecraft and the first in-orbit transposition of a space station module. They are the first crew to enter the space station’s two lab modules, and set a record of making three spacewalks on a single flight mission. They also helped realize the world’s fastest automated rendezvous and docking of the cargo craft Tianzhou-5 with the space station in about two hours.

The trio conducted an in-orbit rotation with the Shenzhou-15 crew, a historic gathering that expanded the workforce at the inorbit space station to six for the first time.