After 5 days and nights of traveling in space, at 4:33 AM on October 17 (Beijing time), astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng successfully returned to Earth.
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| The re-entry capsule upon landing |
Within 48 minutes, the re-entry capsule of Shenzhou 6 reduced its speed from 7,800 meters per second to just 1 meter per second. When the capsule was operating at a distance of 343 km from the Earth in a circular orbit, traveling at approximately 7,800 meters per second, it received commands from the ground, completed its maneuvering in space, separated from the orbital module, and the service module. It then controlled its engines to gradually decrease its speed and detach from orbit, entering a phase of free inertial glide.
Before entering the dense atmosphere, the service module and re-entry capsule separated, with the re-entry capsule continuing to lower its altitude until reaching approximately 100 km above the Earth, entering the dense atmosphere.
As it descended through the atmosphere at speeds of thousands of meters per second, the friction from the dense atmosphere generated a significant amount of heat on the capsule’s surface, forming a high-temperature plasma layer, which caused the spacecraft to lose contact with ground control for nearly 2 minutes until it reached an altitude of 40 km.
At about 15 km above the Earth, the spacecraft’s speed stabilized at approximately 80 meters per second. When it was about 10 km from the ground, the altitude control device measured atmospheric pressure and determined the altitude, automatically opening the parachute’s cover. The parachute was designed to inflate in two stages to prevent strong impacts on the astronauts during deployment. As the main parachute inflated in two stages, the speed of the re-entry capsule gradually decreased from 80 meters per second to 40 meters per second, then continued to decrease to between 8-10 meters per second. When the capsule was about 1 meter from the ground, four retro rockets were ignited, reducing the re-entry capsule’s speed to below 2 meters per second and eventually down to 1 meter per second. The re-entry capsule landed safely.
The two astronauts exited the capsule in good health, but they will need to live in a controlled environment isolated from the outside for two weeks, primarily to protect them from infectious diseases and to undergo health checks and recovery.
This process is essential for astronauts, as time spent in a weightless environment affects their bodies, leading to iron loss and decreased immune function. After returning to Earth, their bodies remain weakened, making them vulnerable to common viruses. The duration of isolation depends on the time spent in space and the recovery of their bodies. Furthermore, if they were to contract or develop any viruses during their time in space that are not present on Earth, isolation will help prevent the spread of these viruses.
Tuyết Nhung (According to XinhuaNet)
