Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - HT Navi Mumbai Live
3 astronauts return after six-month space mission
BEIJING: Three Chinese astronauts, the second team sent to orbit for space station construction, returned to Earth on Saturday after completing a landmark six-month mission, the longest in China’s space programme. The return capsule of the Shenzhou-13 manned spaceship, carrying astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu, touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Saturday morning.
The return journey took nine hours. All three astronauts are all in good physical condition, official news agency Xinhua reported. The world’s secondlargest economy has pumped in billions into its military-run space programme and has come a long way in catching up with the US and Russia in achievements in space.
China plans to finish building its space station this year, and has plans to eventually send humans to the Moon.
Chinese state media published photos of the three astronauts, smiling and waving. being helped out of the return capsule at the landing site on Saturday morning.
Zhai, Wang, China’s first woman astronaut to enter the space station, and Ye lived and worked in the under-construction space station complex for 183 days, the longest stay in space by Chinese astronauts on a single mission.
They were launched into space aboard the Shenzhou-13 spaceship and entered the space station core module Tianhe on October 16, 2021.
“They have completed multiple tasks over the past few months, including two extravehicular activities, two live science lectures, and a number of sci-tech experiments and application projects,” the report said.
They also tested and verified key technologies for the construction of the space station, including in-orbit transposition of spacecraft and robotic arm operation of heavy loads.
“I want to tell my daughter, mom returned after reaching for the stars,” Wang was quoted as saying after her return.
Two spacewalks were carried out by the crew.
On November 7, 2021, Wang became the first Chinese astronaut to conduct a spacewalk.
China has launched seven crewed missions since its first manned mission in 2003. Over 40 launches are planned for the year. The launches for the year include two Shenzhou crewed missions, two Tianzhou cargo spacecraft and the under-construction space station’s additional two modules, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced earlier.
Other missions relating to the space station include in-orbital rendezvous and docking, extravehicular activities and spacecraft return, the CASC said, adding that the Long March-6A carrier rocket will also make its maiden flight in 2022.