4th June 2023 – (Beijing) The three Chinese astronauts on board the Shenzhou-15 spaceship have returned to Earth safely after completing their six-month mission on the country’s space station. The return capsule carrying the astronauts landed at the Dongfeng site in Inner Mongolia at 6.33am on Sunday, according to the China Manned Space Agency.
The astronauts, Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming, and Zhang Lu, were reported to be in good shape, and the mission was deemed a success by the agency. The astronauts were carried out of the capsule and placed on chairs in front of it.
Fei, the mission commander who had previously participated in China’s second crewed space mission in 2005, said that they had completed all the scheduled tasks and felt good after returning to the motherland. Deng, who had been preparing for 25 years to fly to space, expressed gratitude for the support and encouragement he received from the people of the country. Zhang, one of China’s second batch of astronauts, said he was excited to be back on Earth and ready to return to space missions in the future.
The Shenzhou-15 spaceship was launched on November 29, 2022, and the crew successfully completed four extravehicular activities, becoming the crew to accomplish the most EVAs of all Chinese crews to date. They also witnessed the completion of the country’s space station construction.
The successful return of the Shenzhou-15 crew is a significant achievement for China’s space program and demonstrates the country’s growing capabilities in space exploration. With plans to launch more manned missions to the space station in the future, China is poised to become a major player in space exploration and technology.