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JIUQUAN, 2 May (BelTA — Xinhua) — The three Shenzhou-17 astronauts
returned to Earth safely on Tuesday afternoon, after completing a
six-month space station mission.
Shenzhou-17’s return capsule,
carrying astronauts Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin, touched
down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China’s Inner Mongolia
Autonomous Region at 5:46 p.m. (Beijing Time), and the crew all left the
return capsule by 6:37 p.m., according to the China Manned Space Agency
(CMSA).
The three astronauts, after staying in orbit for 187
days, are all in good health and the Shenzhou-17 manned mission was a
success, the CMSA said.
Tang Hongbo has accumulated a total of
279 days in space over the course of two missions, Shenzhou-12 and
Shenzhou-17, setting a new record for the longest spaceflight duration
by a Chinese astronaut. His experience has been invaluable to regular
crew rotations and spaceflight mission training, according to the CMSA.
«I
am proud and honored for my motherland,» the 48-year-old mission
commander said, sitting in front of the capsule. «While completing my
tasks, I missed my motherland and hometown very much.»
Tang
Shengjie, 34, who has just completed his first space trip and is the
youngest astronaut to have entered China’s space station, said that the
six months had been a journey of learning and exploration, during which
he gained a lot of valuable experience. «I believe that fulfilling my
dream of flying into space was not an endpoint but a new start.»
Jiang,
36, who has also just finished his first spaceflight, said, «Now that I
am back in the embrace of our motherland, my heart is filled with
excitement. In the coming days, I will continue to work diligently on
the recovery tasks and strive to return to space as soon as possible.»
The
return capsule separated from Shenzhou-17’s orbital capsule at 4:56
p.m. Then the brake engine ignited, and the return capsule separated
from the propulsion capsule, the CMSA said.
Soon after the return capsule landed, the ground search team arrived at the landing site.
China
launched the Shenzhou-17 manned spaceship on Oct. 26, 2023. It was the
second crewed mission for the application and development stage of
China’s space station.
The Shenzhou-17 crew carried out 84 space
application experiments and tests in orbit, and produced more than 200
samples covering multiple fields, including space life science and
biotechnology, space medicine and space material science, said Lin
Xiqiang, deputy director of the CMSA, at a press conference on April 24.
Scientists
will conduct further in-depth analysis of and research on these
samples, aiming to achieve significant scientific application results in
areas such as the preparation of high-performance multivariant alloys
and functional crystal materials, and the inhibition of bone loss
through the differentiation of stem cells.
«In addition, the
Shenzhou-17 mission also saw Chinese astronauts complete the first
in-orbit maintenance of extravehicular facilities, fully showcasing the
role of humans in addressing unforeseen issues encountered in space,»
Lin said.
The space station’s core module, Tianhe, had previously
suffered a partial loss of power supply due to the impact of space
debris on the solar wing’s power cables.
The Shenzhou-17 crew, in
two extravehicular activities, completed maintenance work on the Tianhe
core module’s solar wings, solving the impact problem, according to
Lin.
China launched the Shenzhou-18 manned spaceship on April 25,
sending three astronauts — Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu — to
its space station for another six-month mission.
