China space station crew returns to Earth after 6 months in space

Three Chinese astronauts person returned to Earth aft a six-month enactment connected China’s Tiangong abstraction station

BEIJING -- Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth connected Monday aft a six-month enactment connected China's Tiangong abstraction station.

A parachute slowed their capsule's nighttime descent to a distant landing area successful China's Inner Mongolia region. The crew emerged aft rubbing down astatine 1:24 a.m. A Chinese nationalist emblem stuck successful nan crushed adjacent nan capsule flapped successful nan wind.

The Tiangong abstraction station, which was completed 2 years ago, is portion of China's efforts to beryllium a world leader successful abstraction exploration. In caller years, nan country's abstraction programme has brought backmost rocks from nan satellite and landed a rover connected Mars. It intends to put a personification connected nan satellite by 2030, which would make it nan 2nd federation aft nan United States to do so.

The abstraction position astronauts returned aft welcoming a replacement three-person crew past week for nan latest six-month mission. The caller unit will behaviour experiments, transportation retired spacewalks and instal instrumentality to protect nan position from abstraction debris.

A abstraction agency charismatic said successful April that Tiangong has maneuvered respective times to debar debris and had partially mislaid powerfulness erstwhile nan star wing's powerfulness cables were deed by debris, according to a study from nan charismatic Xinhua News Agency.

China is among nan countries that person created abstraction debris, including nan reported break-up of a rocket shape successful August during nan motorboat of nan first 18 satellites for a planned communications web akin to Starlink.

Tiangong, which intends Heavenly Palace, is successful orbit astir nan earth.

Only Chinese astronauts person gone to nan abstraction position truthful far, but a abstraction agency spokesperson said past week that China is successful discussions to prime and train astronauts from different nations to subordinate nan missions, Xinhua reported.

Astronauts from respective nations person traveled to nan International Space Station, but China is blocked from that programme chiefly because of U.S. concerns complete nan military's engagement successful China's abstraction program.