The three Chinese astronauts aboard the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft on Friday completed the longest three-month Chinese space mission, and returned to Earth safely.
The three astronauts are military commander Nie Haisheng, 56, who participated in the Shenzhou-6 and Shenzhou-10 missions, Liu Poming, 54, who participated in the Shenzhou-7 mission, and Tang Hong Boh, 45, who took part in his first space mission.
The agency added that “the aforementioned astronauts exited the re-entry capsule of the manned spacecraft “Shenzhou-12″ after landing on Earth at 13:30 local time (0530 GMT), and they are all in good physical condition.”
With the success of this mission, the three astronauts set a new record for the duration of a manned space mission to China, exceeding the 33-day duration set by the Shenzhou-11 crew in 2016.
During the 90-day mission, the three astronauts conducted a spacewalk, testing the unit’s 10-meter mechanical arm, and other preparations for upcoming manned missions.
The state broadcaster CCTV showed footage of the spacecraft landing by parachute in the “Gobi” desert of Gansu Province, northwest China, where it was received by helicopters and off-road vehicles, and minutes later, a crew of technicians began to open the capsule hole. that looked healthy.
“With the growing strength of our country and the rise in the level of Chinese technology, I firmly believe that there will be more astronauts who will set new records,” mission leader Nie Haisheng told CCTV.
On June 17, the Shenzhou-12, China’s first manned spacecraft in 5 years, was launched aboard a Long March-2F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi desert.
