Astronaut returns to Earth after 5 months on Tiangong station

China's three astronauts of the Shenzhou 16 mission returned safely to Earth this morning after completing five months of living and working on the Tiangong space station.

Astronaut returns to Earth after 5 months on Tiangong station

The Shenzhou 16 crew capsule lands in Dongfeng. Video: Xinhua

Astronauts Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao landed in the re-entry capsule of the Shenzhou-16 spacecraft at the Dongfeng landing site at 7:10 a.m. on October 31 (Hanoi time), the China Manned Space Administration (CMSA) announced. The Shenzhou-16 spacecraft separated from the Tiangong space station at 7:27 p.m. on October 30 (Hanoi time). The three astronauts had previously handed over control of the station to the Shenzhou-17 crew that arrived on October 26.

The Shenzhou 16 crew launched to the Tiangong space station on a Long March 2F rocket in May 2023. Jing Haipeng is the mission commander, Zhu Yangzhu is the flight engineer, and Gui Haichao is the cargo specialist.

The trio spent five months on the space station, conducting a series of scientific experiments and interacting with the public. Zhu and Jing conducted an eight-hour spacewalk in June 2023 to maintain the Tiangong camera. The new Shenzhou 17 crew will stay on the station for six months.

The Tiangong space station, which is about 20 percent the size of the International Space Station, will be completed by the end of 2022 after the addition of its final component, the Mengtian module. China aims to keep the Tiangong station permanently inhabited for at least a decade. It also plans to expand the T-shaped space station, which currently consists of three modules.

An Khang (According to Space )

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