The return capsule of the Shenzhou-17 manned spacecraft landed on Earth on Tuesday. China's Xinhua News Agency published a video showing three astronauts – Tang Hongbo, Tang Xingjie, and Jiang Xinlin – landing in the Gobi Desert in Inner Mongolia in northern China.
Thus the astronauts ended their six-month stay on the Chinese Tiangong (Heavenly Palace) space station. – During the more than 180 days and nights I spent in space, I missed my homeland, especially my hometown – confirmed Tang Hongbo, a participant in the mission.
— Whenever the space station flew over our homeland and I had a free moment, I would look at it from afar through the window and search for my hometown. “I was full of longing and pride,” the astronaut added, quoted by Reuters.
There are three other astronauts on board the Chinese space station
On April 25, another crew launched to the Tiangong space station aboard the ship Shenzhou-18: 43-year-old Yi Guangfu, 34-year-old Li Cong, and 36-year-old Li Guangsu. They will install equipment there to filter out satellite networks and take pictures that students can use.
China has announced two manned and two unmanned space flights for 2024. At least three unmanned flights to the Moon are also scheduled to take place over the next four years.
China's space program assumes sending astronauts to the moon and returning samples from Mars by 2030. Three unmanned missions to the moon are also planned over the next four years. China will also make its space station available to foreign astronauts and space tourists.
Source: Xinhua/PAP
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