Three Chinese astronauts have gotten back to earth after a 90-day visit to an incomplete space station in the nation’s initially crewed mission since 2016.
In a small return capsule, the three men – Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo – landed securely in the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia in the north of China at 1:34pm (05:34 GMT), state media announced.
The Shenzhou-12 mission was the first of four crewed missions got ready for 2021-2022 as China collects its first permanent space station. The interaction requires 11 missions, including the launches of the station’s three modules.
Development started off in April with the launch of the Tianhe module, the future living quarters of the space station. Marginally bigger than a city bus, Tianhe was the place where Nie, Liu and Tang have remained since mid-June, denoting China’s longest spaceflight mission.
While in orbit, the astronauts directed spacewalks, approved Tianhe’s life-support system, tried the module’s robotic arm, and arranged supplies for forthcoming crewed missions.
The second crewed mission is gotten ready for October, with the next batch of astronauts expected to remain on Tianhe for six months.
In front of that Shenzhou-13 mission, China will send an automated cargo spacecraft – Tianzhou-3 – to Tianhe conveying supplies required by the following team.
Tianzhou-3 will be launched in the near future, state media said recently.
Blocked by US law from working with NASA and likewise on the US-led International Space Station (ISS), China has gone through the beyond 10 years developing technologies to develop its own space station.
China’s space station, expected to be finished before the finish of 2022, will be the sole option in contrast to the 20-year-old ISS, which might be retired in 2024.
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