By 
December 4th, 2022
Image credit: CNSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s three-person Shenzhou-14 crew returned to Earth on Sunday night (Beijing Time) after fulfilling a six-month mission, turning over the keys to the country’s Heavenly Palace orbital facility to their Shenzhou-15 colleagues in space.
The return capsule of the Shenzhou-14 manned spaceship, carrying astronauts Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe, touched the ground at the Dongfeng landing site in north China’s Inner Mongolia. They were launched back on June 5 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China and carried out the longest mission to date by any Chinese space crew.
Image credit: CCTV/CMSA/Inside Outer Space screengrab
During the past 183 days, the trio of taikonauts completed multiple tasks including the first in-orbit docking of two 20-ton space modules –Wentian and Mengtian labs — and the first two-hour fast autonomous docking of a cargo spaceship.
Credit: Taikonaut Liu Yang following Gobi Desert landing.
Credit: CNSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
For video focused on the returning crew, go to:
Posted in Space News
