Crew members performed dozens of experiments and two spacewalks
After 6 months aboard China's Tiangong space station, the trio of Shenzhou-17 mission astronauts returned safely to Earth.
April 30 at 5:46 a.m. Eastern Time (9:46 GMT, 5:46 p.m. Beijing Time) spacecraft «Shenzhou-17» with astronauts Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin on board made a soft parachute landing in the Inner Mongolia region, state news agency Xinhua reported. All three crew members are in good health.
Launch of «Shenzhou-17» on top of the launch vehicle «Long March-2F» took place on October 25, 2022. After 6.5 hours, the ship docked with the Tiangong space station, the completion of which China celebrated at the end of last year. This marked China's 12th manned mission to orbit and the 6th crew visit to the Chinese space station.
With 48, 34 and 35 years of taikonauts of the mission «Shenzhou-17» called the youngest crew to visit the Chinese space station. However, this «achievement» may soon be killed by the newly arrived crew «Shenzhou-18» consisting of Ye Guangfu (43 years old), Li Guangsu (36 years old) and Li Kong (34 years old), who started at Tiangong. April 27.
For six months on board, the astronauts performed dozens of scientific experiments. Of particular note are two spacewalks in December and March to repair the station's solar panels damaged by space debris and micrometeorites. In January at «Tiangong» cargo ship «Tianzhou-7» arrived with supplies for the current and next crews.
«Tianggong» is a T-shaped complex consisting of the main module «Tianhe» and two laboratory modules «Mengtian» and «Wentian». The mass of the station is approximately 20% greater than the ISS. However, China does not exclude the possibility of launching additional modules for its station, which is planned to be operated with the constant presence of astronauts at least in the next decade.