BEIJING (AFP) —
Three Chinese astronauts landed in northern
China on Saturday after 183 days in
space, state broadcaster CCTV said, ending the country’s longest crewed space
mission to date.
اضافة اعلان
The Shenzhou-13
spacecraft is the latest mission in
Beijing’s drive to become a major space
power rivalling the US, after landing a rover on Mars and sending probes to the
Moon.
The two men and one
woman — Zhai Zhigang, Ye Guangfu, and Wang Yaping — landed in a small capsule
shortly before 10 am Beijing time, after six months aboard the Tianhe core
module of China’s Tiangong space station.
“Shenzhou 13’s re-entry capsule successfully
landed,” state broadcaster CCTV said.
The trio originally launched in the Shenzhou-13 from
the Gobi Desert in northwestern China last October, as the second of four
crewed missions during 2021-2022 sent to assemble the country’s first permanent
space station — Tiangong, which means “heavenly palace.”
Wang became the
first Chinese woman to spacewalk last November, as she and her colleague Zhai
installed space station equipment during a six-hour stint.
The trio have
completed two spacewalks, carried out numerous scientific experiments, set up
equipment and tested technologies for future construction during their time in
orbit.
The astronauts
spent the past few weeks tidying up and preparing the cabin facilities and
equipment for the crew of the incoming Shenzhou-14, expected to be launched in
the coming months.
Tiangong is
expected to operate for at least 10 years, and the three astronauts are the
second group to stay there.
Mission commander
Zhai is a former fighter pilot who performed China’s first spacewalk in 2008,
while Ye is a People’s Liberation Army pilot.
China’s previous
record spaceflight mission length was set by last year’s Shenzhou-12 mission,
which lasted 92 days.
Six months will become the normal astronaut residence period
aboard the Chinese space station, according to CCTV.
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