Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Friday after spending nearly seven months in space, setting a record for the longest on-orbit stay by a Chinese crew, Ada Derana reported.
The craft carrying Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang of the Shenzhou 21 crew touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in northern China’s Inner Mongolia region in the evening. The return came as China prepares for its first crewed lunar landing by 2030.
Before departing the Tiangong space station, the trio completed a handover that included processing and transmitting experimental data and transferring remaining supplies, the China Manned Space Agency told Xinhua. They also shared their experience with the Shenzhou 23 crew, who arrived at the station on Monday — including the mission’s year-long-stay astronaut.
The crew completed three spacewalks during the mission. Agency spokesperson Zhang Jingbo said Zhang Lu — who had also flown on the Shenzhou 15 mission — has now carried out seven spacewalks in total, the most by any Chinese astronaut.
Zhang Lu told reporters he felt “extremely emotional” on returning to China and credited the support of families, comrades and project staff. Zhang Hongzhang reflected on the view from orbit, saying that “looking at Earth from space, I really felt that humanity is an indivisible community with a shared future.”
The mission caps a busy spring for China’s human spaceflight programme as Beijing accelerates work toward a permanent presence on the Tiangong outpost and the planned 2030 Moon landing.
Source: Ada Derana.
