Six months in space: Three Chinese astronauts landed | panorama

After six months aboard the Chinese space station, three astronauts returned to Earth on Sunday. Their space capsule landed early in the morning local time on a large red and white parachute at the Dongfeng landing area in Inner Mongolia, northeast of the Jiuquan spaceport in the Gobi desert. After a new crew of three flew to the space station on Tuesday aboard the Shenzhou 16 (Magic Ship) spacecraft, the crew could be replaced.

This is the first crew change since the Tiangong (Palace of Heaven) space station was fully commissioned earlier this year. The three astronauts Fei Junlong (57 years old), Deng Qingming (56 years old) and Zhang Lu (46 years old) worked on the plane for 186 days. Nine hours before landing, the spaceship “Shenzhou 15” exited the “Paradise Palace”. Chinese state television broadcast live images from the capsule ahead of the critical re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, with the astronauts looking relieved.

Your colleagues will now be in space for five months. Among them is a civilian for the first time, scientist Gui Haichao from Beijing Aerospace University. The 36-year-old is supposed to be interested in experiments. All other Chinese astronauts so far have come from the military. Flight engineer Zhu Yangzhu (36) is also a newcomer to space. The leader is 56-year-old Jing Haiping. On his fourth spaceflight, Major General has booked more flights than any other Chinese astronaut.

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