Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab

Technicians have unloaded China’s Shenzhou-13 spacecraft on Tuesday, removing items carried to space, weighing over 73 kilograms, including numbers of experimental equipment and instruments.

Engineers of the China Academy of Space Technology took objects out of the return capsule. Among them are crop seeds brought to the space for biological experiments, which is a tradition of China’s spaceflight missions. Along with the seeds, commemorative stamps and paintings by Hong Kong teenagers were retrieved, reports China Central Television (CCTV).

There are also two 8K ultra-high-definition cameras, which the three taikonauts of Shenzhou-13 used to record their six-month stay in the space station and images of the Earth. The footage is to be used to make a documentary about China’s space program by the China Media Group.

Other objects will be transferred to other institutions of the country.

Notaries at the site registered the information of every object taken out of the capsule and verified them one by one.

China’s longest spaceflight

After the return capsule was transported back to Beijing, engineers tested the equipment in the vehicle, verifying the spacecraft’s technical status to evaluate its operation in space.

Packing up for return to Earth – Shenzhou-13 crew.
Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab

On Oct 16, 2021, the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft transported the three taikonauts — Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu — to the Tiangong space station for a six-month stay (183 days), the longest-ever duration in the country’s human spaceflight program.

The return capsule of the Shenzhou-13 piloted spaceship touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China’s Inner Mongolia on April 16.

Shenzhou-13 crew members.
Credit: CNS/Inside Outer Space screengrab

Over the past six months, the three taikonauts completed multiple tasks, including carrying out two extravehicular activities, conducted two live science lectures, also with making a number of sci-tech experiments and fulfilling application projects.

The Chinese taikonauts also used manual tele-operation equipment for the first time to steer a cargo craft to dock with the space station.

“To make use of the performance margin of the flights of Shenzhou-13 manned spacecraft, we conducted more than 10 experiments of scientific value and social benefit. They mainly involve space breeding, space biological experiments and space culture,” said Lin Xiqiang, spokesman of China Manned Space Program and deputy director of China Manned Space Agency.

Go to video of the unpacking at: https://youtu.be/NQhQoc_GkHQ