Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth after spending six months in space

They have returned to Earth safe and sound. Three Chinese astronauts, two men and one woman, returned to Earth on Sunday, Dec. 4, after six months at the Tiangong space station, the Chinese space agency announced, citing media reports. At 8:09 p.m. Beijing time (3 hours in Paris), the crew landed at the Dongfeng base in Inner Mongolia (China), the space agency said, citing the official Xinhua news agency.

The three tyconauts of the Shenzhou-14 mission, mission commander Chen Dong, China’s first female astronaut Liu Yang and Cai Sushe, are tasked with overseeing the final stages of construction of the space station, the crown jewel of China’s ambitious space program. . The last block of the under-construction station was built at the end of October, an important step towards completing the assembly of the station scheduled for the end of the year.

“I am proud to see the basic structure of our space station take shape”According to Xinhua, Air Force pilot Chen said he was the first Chinese astronaut to stay in orbit for more than 200 days.

The crew handed over to the three astronauts of the Shenzhou-15 mission that arrived at Tiangong station in late November. This is the first crew transfer in orbit by Chinese astronauts.