Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Saturday after 183 days in space, ending China’s largest manned mission as it continues its quest to become a major space force.
The Shenzhou-13 spacecraft was the last mission in Beijing’s attempt to compete with the United States, after landing a rover on Mars and sending probes to the Moon.
Live footage from state-run CCTV showed the capsule landing in a cloud of dust, with the crew of ground left from the landing point rushing in helicopters to reach the capsule.
The two men and a woman – Zhai Zhigang, Ye Guangfu and Wang Yaping – returned to Earth shortly before 10 a.m. Beijing time (02:00 GMT), after six months of boarding the Tianhe Central Unit of China’s Tiangong Space Station.
The ground crew applauded as the astronauts took turns and reported that they were in good physical condition.
Zhai was the first to come out of the capsule about 45 minutes after landing, waving and smiling at the cameras as they lifted the ground crew into a specially designed chair before putting it on a blanket.
“I’m proud of our heroic country,” Zhai told CCTV shortly after leaving the capsule. “I feel extremely good.”
The trio was first launched into Shenzhou-13 from China’s northwestern Gobi Desert last October, the second of four 2021-2022 crew missions sent to assemble the country’s first permanent space station — Tiangong, which means “heavenly palace”.
Wang became the first Chinese woman to walk into space last November, as she and her colleague Zhai installed space station equipment over a six-hour period.
The commander of the mission, Zhai, 55, is a former fighter pilot who made China’s first spacewalk in 2008, while Ye is a People’s Liberation Army pilot.
The trio completed two space walks, conducted numerous scientific experiments, created equipment and tested technologies for future constructions during their time in orbit.
The astronauts have spent the last few weeks arranging and preparing the facilities and cabin equipment for the crew of the upcoming Shenzhou-14, which is expected to be launched in the coming months.
China’s previous record for the duration of spaceflight was set by last year’s Shenzhou-12 development, which lasted 92 days.
Six months will be the normal stay of astronauts on the Chinese space station, according to the state television network CCTV.
Race in space
The world’s second largest economy has channeled billions into its military space program, hoping to have a permanent crew by 2022 and eventually send humans to the moon.
The country has come a long way to reach the United States and Russia, whose astronauts and cosmonauts have decades of experience in space exploration.
But under Chinese President Xi Jinping, the country’s plans for its vast “space dream” have been exaggerated.
In addition to a space station, Beijing also plans to build a base on the Moon, and the country’s National Space Administration has said it intends to begin a lunar mission with a crew by 2029.
China has been excluded from the International Space Station since 2011 when the United States banned NASA from interfering with the country.
While China has no plans to use its space station for global ISS-scale cooperation, Beijing has said it is open to foreign cooperation, although the extent of this cooperation is not yet clear.
The ISS is set to retire after 2024, although NASA has said it could remain operational until 2030.
The astronaut makes the first spacewalk from China
© 2022 AFP
Reference: Three Chinese astronauts return to Earth after six months in space (2022, April 16) recovered on April 17, 2022 from
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