Chinese astronauts land after 3 months in space

The capsule with the three astronauts, as China calls the astronauts, real estate Around 7.30am Dutch time in the Gobi Desert. All crew members are fine. The trio stayed for months aboard China’s Tiangong Station, which was launched into space earlier this year.

It was China’s first manned space mission in nearly five years. The first Chinese spacewalk took place in 2008, making China the third country after the United States and the Soviet Union to allow astronauts to move outside a spacecraft.

Returning astronauts will now be quarantined for two weeks before being allowed to go home. Their immune systems may be weakened by time in space.

The next crew will go to Tiangong in October. Before that, an unmanned supply flight should go to the station.

China’s space ambitions

China has big ambitions in space. For example, it has already placed a rover on Mars and in 2033 also wants to land a manned on the “red planet”. In early 2019, China became the first country to land a spacecraft on the “dark” side of the moon.

The country plans to conduct 11 more launches of the Tiangong plant this year. Three of them are manned and they have to bring new units to the station. The entire plant must operate for at least ten years.