The Shenzhou-13 space capsule landed in the Gobi Desert in northern Inner Mongolia, which was broadcast live on state television.
During the mission, astronaut Wang Yaping took the first spacewalk from a Chinese woman. Wang and crew friends Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu took physics lessons for high school students.
After landing, the trio left the Dongfeng landing site by helicopter for a 40-minute flight to Dingxin Airport in neighboring Gansu Province. From there they were to be sent to Beijing by plane.
From left, astronauts Ye Guangfu, Zhai Zhigang and Wang Yaping are waving after entering the core of the Tianhe space station on October 16, 2021. (Tian Dingyu / Xinhua / The Associated Press)
The three astronauts began the mission as they took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on October 16, 2021. The crew lived and worked on China’s Tiangong space station for 183 days, the longest stay of Chinese astronauts in space.
China launched its first astronaut into space in 2003 and landed a robot robot on the moon in 2013 and on Mars last year. Officials have discussed a possible crew mission to the moon.
