The astronauts of China’s Shenzhou 14 spacecraft have safely returned to Earth after six months of work at the Tiangong space station, marking the first time China has conducted a crew change in space.
The Shenzhou 14 crew landed at a designated site in Inner Mongolia on the evening of December 4. This mission was launched on June 5, with the objective of constructing the Tiangong space station, which consists of three basic modules, including the core module Tianhe, which is currently orbiting Earth, and the two modules Wentian and Mengtian, according to Space.
Astronaut Chen Dong (center), commander of Shenzhou 14, celebrates after a safe landing. (Photo: Xinhua).
“I feel very fortunate to witness the completion of the basic structure of China’s space station after six busy months in space,” said astronaut Chen Dong, who was the first to exit the capsule, in an interview with CCTV.
The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced that the three Chinese astronauts have returned to Earth, following the country’s first crew change in space.
The Shenzhou 14 astronauts spent the weekend handing over their work to their colleagues from the Shenzhou 15 mission. This also marks the first time that six astronauts are present at the Tiangong space station, according to the South China Morning Post.
Six astronauts from the Shenzhou 14 and Shenzhou 15 missions at the Tiangong space station. (Photo: CMSA).
On November 29, China launched the Shenzhou 15 spacecraft, sending three astronauts into orbit to carry out the final mission in the construction plan for the Tiangong space station. Meanwhile, the Shenzhou 16 mission is on standby and will be launched to the Tiangong space station in case of an emergency.
China plans to keep the Tiangong space station operational for at least another 10 years and expects to conduct commercial missions in the coming years.
