Three Chinese have returned from a record stay in space
This is China’s longest stay in space: three astronauts of the Shenzhou-13 mission returned to Earth on Saturday after six months spent on the Chinese space station.
This is another successful step for Beijing in its ambitious space program to catch up with the United States, Europe and Russia.
After triggering its red and white parachute, the return capsule in which the crew – consisting of a woman and two men – took place before 10 am (local time) in the desert of Inner Mongolia (northern China ).
The Shenzhou-13 return capsule arrived successfully said state broadcaster CCTV.
Live CCTV footage shows the capsule landing in a cloud of dust. Ground crews, who had moved away from the landing site, rushed to helicopters to reach the capsule.
Applauded by the ground crew, the astronauts took turns saying they felt good .
The crew consists of three army pilots: commander Zhai Zhigang (55), his colleague Wang Yaping (42) – who became the first Chinese to conduct a spacewalk in November – and the youngest Ye Guangfu (41 years old). ), which was the first spaceflight then.
Zhai Zhigang first came out of the capsule, about 45 minutes after landing.
The former fighter pilot, who conducted the first spacewalk in China in 2008, waved at the cameras, smiling, as he was lifted by the ground crew, before being placed on a blanket.
I am proud of our heroic hero he said to CCTV.
In 183 days in space, the crew broke the previous national record for stay in space, which was 92 days and set in 2021 on the previous human mission, the Shenzhou-12.
The Chinese Space Station in full development
The goal [avec Shenzhou-13] is not on his own to establish a record, but to develop the skills necessary for a permanent station job the ultimate goal of China, says Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in the United States.
Named in Chinese Tiangong ( celestial palace ), but is also known in English by its acronym CSS (for Chinese space station in French), it should be completed by the end of 2022.
Similar to the size of the former Russian-Soviet Mir station, its life span should be about fifteen years.
In six months, the crew conducted two spacewalk, continued construction of the station, hosted two Internet courses for Chinese students, conducted experiments and refined their long-term stay skills.
For example, they have improved their maintenance skills, with spacewalks and robotic arm manipulation. of the station, detailed in France Media Agency AFP Chen Lan, analyst for the GoTaikonauts.com site, who specializes in Chinese space programs.
Shenzhou-13 is not not a significant success but the completion of CSS later this year will be a very important event he pointed out.
Next stages of construction: the shipping of a cargo ship in May after another manned mission, Shenzhou-14, which is due to launch in June.
The last two space station modules will be shipped from July.
They will go into space from the Wenchang launch center, located on the tropical island of Hainan (south) and Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that he wants to make it a site. world class .
From Shenzhou-14, the Chinese space station CSS must be permanently occupied.
Chinese victory in space
China has been investing billions of euros in its space program for decades, and sent its first astronaut into space in 2003. Since then, it has achieved some impressive successes, especially in recent years. .
At the beginning of 2019, it put the engine at the end of the Moon, a world first. In 2020, he returned samples from the Moon and terminated Beidou, its satellite navigation system, a competitor to American GPS.
In 2021, he landed a small robot on Mars and plans to send men to the Moon by 2030.
China has been banned from the International Space Station since 2011, when the United States banned NASA from interacting with the Asian country.
Three Chinese have returned from a record stay in space
This is China’s longest stay in space: three astronauts...
Good Friday: browse pictures of celebrations around the world 15/04/2022 20:47
Good Friday: browse pictures of celebrations around the world...
These trees will revive Notre-Dame de Paris
Outside the sawmill, all eyes were on the large...
There were no OM supporters in Paris on Sunday
Olympique de Marseille (OM) supporters will not be able...
Strong winds are causing losses in western Quebec
Violent winds that blew over greater parts of Montreal...
1. FSV Mainz 05 – VfB Stuttgart live | Bundesliga
Confirmed line ups on both teams. The protagonists...