Three Chinese astronauts landed in northern China on Saturday (April 16) after 183 days in space, state broadcaster CCTV said, ending the country’s longest crewed space mission to date.
The Shenzhou-13 spacecraft is the latest mission in Beijing’s drive to become a major space power rivalling the United States, after landing a rover on Mars and sending probes to the Moon.
Live footage from the broadcaster showed the capsule landing in a cloud of dust, with ground crew who had kept clear of the landing site rushing in on helicopters to reach the capsule.
The two men and one woman – astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Ye Guangfu and Wang Yaping – returned to Earth shortly before 10am, after six months aboard the Tianhe core module of China’s Tiangong space station.
Ground crew applauded as the astronauts each took turns to report that they were in good physical condition.
Major-General Zhai was the first to emerge from the capsule roughly 45 minutes after the landing, waving and grinning at cameras as he was lifted by ground crew into a specially designed chair before being bundled into a blanket.
“I’m proud of our heroic country,” he said in an interview with CCTV shortly after leaving the capsule. “I feel extremely good.”
The trio launched in the Shenzhou-13 from China’s north-western Gobi Desert last October, as the second of four crewed missions during 2021 to 2022 sent to assemble the country’s first permanent space station – Tiangong, which means “heavenly palace”.
Senior Colonel Wang became the first Chinese woman to spacewalk last November, as she and Maj-Gen Zhai installed space station equipment during a six-hour stint.
The trio completed two spacewalks, carried out numerous scientific experiments, set up equipment and tested technologies for future construction during their time in orbit.
They 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.
Maj-Gen Zhai, the mission commander, is a former fighter pilot who performed China’s first spacewalk in 2008, while Senior Colonel 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.
Space race
The world’s second-largest economy has poured billions into its military-run space programme, with hopes of having a permanently crewed space station by 2022 and eventually sending humans to the Moon.
The country has come a long way in catching up with the US 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 heavily promoted “space dream” have been put into overdrive.
Beijing is also planning to build a base on the Moon, and the country’s National Space Administration said it aims to launch a crewed lunar mission by 2029.
China has been excluded from the International Space Station since 2011, when the US banned Nasa from engaging with the country.
While China does not plan to use its space station for global cooperation on the scale of the ISS, Beijing has said it is open to foreign collaboration although the scope of that cooperation is not yet clear.
The ISS is due for retirement after 2024, although Nasa has said it could remain functional until 2030.
Source: The Straits Times
BDST: 1235 HRS, APR 16, 2022
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