Three Chinese astronauts landed in a northern desert on Sunday after six months working to complete construction of the Tiangong station, a symbol of their country's ambitious space program, state TV reported. A capsule carrying commander Chen Dong and astronauts Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe touched down at a landing site in the Gobi Desert in northern China at approximately 8:10pm, China Central Television reported. Prior to departure, they overlapped for almost five days with three colleagues who arrived Wednesday on the Shenzhou-15 mission for their own six-month stay, marking the first time China had six astronauts in space at the same time, per the AP. The station's third and final module docked with the station this month.
The astronauts were carried out of the capsule by medical workers about 40 minutes after touchdown. They were all smiles and appeared to be in good condition, waving happily at workers at the landing site. "I am very fortunate to have witnessed the completion of the basic structure of the Chinese space station after six busy and fulfilling months in space," said Chen, the first to exit the capsule. "Like meteors, we returned to the embrace of the motherland." Liu, another of the astronauts, said she was moved to see relatives and compatriots. The three astronauts were part of the Shenzhou-14 mission, which launched in June. After their arrival at Tiangong, Chen, Liu and Cai oversaw five rendezvous and dockings with various spacecraft, including one carrying the third of the station's three modules. They also performed three spacewalks, beamed down a live science lecture from the station, and conducted experiments.
The Tiangong is part of China's plans for a permanent human presence in orbit. China built its own station after it was excluded from the International Space Station, largely due to US objections over the space programs' close ties to the People's Liberation Army, the military wing of the ruling Communist Party. With a lifespan of 10 to 15 years, Tiangong could one day be the only space station still up and running if the International Space Station retires around the end of the decade as expected. Officials are reported to be considering an eventual crewed mission to the moon, though no timeline has been offered.
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