After return from space, Chinese astronauts arrive in capital Beijing

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Three Chinese astronauts, locally known as Taikonauts, arrived in the capital Beijing on Monday. They landed back on Earth a day earlier after spending six months in space.

Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe, who formed the crew of the Chinese manned spaceship Shenzhou-14, touched down “safely” on Sunday at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region at 8:09 p.m. Beijing Time (1209GMT).

They were blasted off to space on June 05.

Liu is China's first female astronaut.

“The astronauts were all in good physical condition, and the Shenzhou-14 manned mission was a complete success,” said China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

The trio was flown to Beijing early this morning. “I am honored to witness the formation of our space station's basic configuration,” mission commander Chen told the Chinese media.

He is the first Chinese astronaut to stay in space for over 200 days. “I am proud of my country.”

The trio will undergo a medical examination during the mandatory isolation period and take rest.

The CMSA said the Shenzhou-14 used “rapid return mode” which led to “fewer circles around the orbit and shortened the return flight time.”

China is building its own T-shaped space station, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

During their stay in space, the three Taikonauts completed multiple tasks including “overseeing five rendezvous-and-dockings, performing three extravehicular activities, giving a live science lecture, and conducting several sci-tech experiments.”

They also “carried out space station platform inspections and tests, equipment maintenance, as well as the management of materials and the space station.”

Unlocking and installation of scientific experiment cabinets in lab modules Wentian and Mengtian were also done by them.

It is the first time in Chinese space history that the Shenzhou-14 crew conducted “rendezvous and docking between two 20-ton-level spacecraft and the first in-orbit transposition of a space station module.”

Chen, Liu and Cai are the first crew to enter China’s space station's two lab modules.

They also set a record for conducting three spacewalks on a single flight mission.

Conducting the world’s fastest automated rendezvous and docking of the cargo craft Tianzhou-5 with the space station in about two hours also goes to their credit.

Their flight back home came after they received the Shenzhou-15 crew late last month, increasing the workforce at the in-orbit space station to six for the first time in Chinese space mission history.