Three Chinese astronauts returned to earth on Monday after a six-month stay on the Tiangong space station, part of China’s effort to be a global leader in space exploration.
A parachute slowed their capsule’s nighttime descent to a remote landing area in China’s Inner Mongolia region. The crew emerged after touching down at 1.24 a.m.
In recent years, the country’s space programme has brought back rocks from the moon and landed a rover on Mars. It aims to put a person on the moon by 2030, which would make China the second nation after the U.S. to do so.
The space station astronauts returned after welcoming a replacement three-person, one woman and two men, crew last week for the latest six-month mission.
A space agency official said in April that Tiangong had manoeuvred several times to avoid debris and had partially lost power when the solar wing’s power cables were hit by debris, according to a report from the official Xinhua News Agency.
China is among the countries that have created space debris, including the reported break-up of a rocket stage in August during the launch of the first 18 satellites for a global internet service similar to Starlink, the still-growing constellation of satellites operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Tiangong, which means Heavenly Palace, was completed two years ago and orbits the earth.
Published – November 04, 2024 12:12 am IST
