Three Shenzhou Astronauts Safely Return to Earth After Setting China’s Longest Space Mission Record
Arrival Aboard the Unmanned Shenzhou 22 Return Capsule
The astronauts aboard China's manned spacecraft Shenzhou 21 have safely returned to Earth.
On May 29, Xinhua News Agency and the Associated Press, citing the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), reported that the return capsule of Shenzhou 22, carrying the astronauts from Shenzhou 21, successfully landed at the Dongfeng Landing Site in Inner Mongolia at approximately 8:10 p.m. that day.
The three male astronauts from Shenzhou 21—Commander Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, and Zhang Hongzhang—are all reported to be in good health. Zhang Hongzhang commented, "Looking at Earth from space, I deeply felt that humanity is a community with a shared future."
The crew entered the Tiangong space station on November 1 of last year and stayed in orbit for about seven months (210 days), setting a new record for the longest continuous orbit stay by a single team of Chinese astronauts. In addition, Commander Zhang is now the Chinese astronaut with the highest number of extravehicular activities (EVA), having completed a total of seven spacewalks.
Wu Fei, born in 1993, became the youngest Chinese astronaut to successfully complete a space mission. Last December, he also set the record as the youngest Chinese astronaut to conduct an extravehicular activity.
They also became the first in China’s spaceflight history to return to Earth aboard a different spacecraft. Due to concerns over the safety of Shenzhou 20 following a collision with space debris, the Shenzhou 21 astronauts returned to Earth. For this reason, an unmanned Shenzhou 22 was sent to pick up the Shenzhou 21 crew, who then returned to Earth using the Shenzhou 22 return capsule.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press explained that after China was effectively excluded from the International Space Station due to U.S. national security concerns, China developed its own space station, Tiangong. China is now considered the United States’ main competitor in the space industry, with its sights set on a manned lunar landing.
On May 25, the Shenzhou 23 crew, who successfully docked with the core module Tianhe of the Tiangong space station in the early morning, consists of three astronauts: Li Jiaying, the first astronaut from Hong Kong, Commander Zhu Yangzhu, and Zhang Zhiyuan. Shenzhou 23 marks the seventh manned mission related to the operation and development of the space station and the 40th overall mission in China's manned space program. One member of the Shenzhou 23 crew plans to stay on the space station for about one year, which is twice the usual duration.
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Zhang Jingbo, spokesperson for the China Manned Space Engineering Office, stated, "We will conduct China's first research program on human physiology in space to gather more long-duration flight data and accumulate mission experience. We will also verify our ability to ensure astronauts' health during extended missions and improve in-orbit medical and protection systems."
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