Shenzhou-14 crew return safely to Earth
Astronauts end six-month mission on Tiangong with landmark handover
Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth yesterday after carrying out the country’s first in-orbit crew handover at the Tiangong space station.
The Shenzhou-14 crew touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region at 8.09pm, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said, about nine hours after their craft separated from the space station.
Quoting medical workers at the scene, People’s Daily reported the astronauts were in good health. They had all emerged from the return capsule by about 9pm.
It was the first landing at night in winter for China’s manned space programme, adding to the difficulty for search crews on the ground, Bian Hancheng, deputy chief designer of the landing site system, told China Youth Daily.
The crew – Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe – lived and worked on the Tiangong complex for 183 days on a mission to complete assembly of the permanent orbiting space station.
“I am very fortunate to have witnessed the completion of the basic structure of the Chinese space station after six busy and fulfilling months in space,” Chen, who was the first to exit the capsule, told CCTV. “Like meteors, we returned to the embrace of the motherland.”
Only China, Russia and the United States have put astronauts into space and built a space station.
During their six months aloft, the crew oversaw the addition of two laboratory modules, Wentian and Mengtian, to the main Tianhe living space. The construction of the final T-shaped orbiting Tiangong station was completed in November.
They also oversaw five rendezvous and dockings, performed three extravehicular activities, gave one lecture, and conducted a number of experiments.
CMSA deputy director Lin Xiqiang in June said that the mission was designed to transform the orbiter into a national space laboratory.
The agency plans to launch two crewed space missions each year for the next decade.
The astronauts spent their last week on the station handing over to the Shenzhou-15 crew – and setting another Chinese first in the process by confirming the Tiangong’s ability to temporarily house six people.
The Shenzhou-15 team is led by 57-year-old Fei Junlong, and includes Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu. Fei previously commanded the Shenzhou-6 mission in 2005.
Shenzhou-15 is the last of 11 missions required to wrap up the last stage of the space station’s construction and launch the first stage of its application and development. .
The Tiangong, or “Celestial Palace” in Chinese, is expected to operate for around a decade.
Its development comes as the US space agency Nasa prepares to decommission the International Space Station by 2031.
China has not been involved in the ISS – the US Congress has banned Nasa from collaborating with the country since 2011.