There is a record-setting mission in the books.
On Friday, April 15th, a space craft carrying three astronauts made a safe landing in northern China. About 9 hours after leaving the core Tianhe module of the country's new space station. It was Saturday morning at the landing site.
The vast majority of the mission was spent on Tianhe, where it spent a national-record six months in space. The longest Chinese crewed mission was the one that sent three astronauts to the station for 92 days last year.
The applause from the China National Space Administration's mission control center in Beijing came after the three astronauts radioed that they were feeling fine.
The latest news about China's space program.
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Six months is the duration of a normal astronauts mission to the International Space Station, which China is not a part of. NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Pyotr Dubrov returned to Earth after 355 days in the International Space Station.
Other national marks were set by the 13th. Wang Yaping was the first woman to live aboard the space station and the first Chinese woman to conduct a spacewalk.
Wang was joined on the mission by two other people. The trio lifted off on Oct. 15 from a launch center in the Gobi Desert.
They arrived at the central piece of China's unfinished space station. China plans to launch two more modules later this year.
Zhai, Wang and Ye were busy during their time in space. The astronauts performed two spacewalks, conducted more than 20 different science experiments, and delivered two live educational lectures.
Experts say the talks served multiple purposes.
A real-time interactive event with China's taikonauts highlights the reality of the country's technological achievements and displays the competencies and utility of its space program, according to Molly Silk, a PhD researcher of Chinese space policy at the University.
She said that the event would encourage young citizens to pursue science-based careers.
The crew from the 13th mission spent some time getting ready for the next group of visitors, which will arrive soon, and the 14th mission is expected to launch in June.
The second crewed mission to Tianhe was launched in April of 2021. The first was in June of 2021.
There are two robotic cargo spaceships that have visited and one that is expected to launch next month.
Mike Wall is the author of Out There, a book about the search for alien life. You can follow him on social media. Follow us on social media.
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