The three astronauts of China's Shenzhou-17 crewed spaceflight mission returned safely back to Earth on Tuesday after completing their six-month stay aboard the country's Tiangong space station.
The return capsule, carrying astronauts Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin, touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 17:46 Beijing Time, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
Shortly after exiting the return capsule, mission commander Tang Hongbo, who currently holds the longest duration of stay in orbit among Chinese astronauts, said he felt proud to have completed the six-month mission along with his two crew mates and that he missed his loved ones on Earth very much.
"I'm proud of the motherland. During my 180-plus days and nights in space, I missed my motherland and hometown in particular. Whenever the space station flew over our motherland and I happened to have time to spare, I would look out the window at our motherland from afar and search for my hometown. I was filled with both longing and pride." he said.
Tang Hongbo was among the crew of the three-month Shenzhou-12 mission which was launched in June 2021 and marked the first crewed mission in the construction of the Chinese space station.
His crew mate Tang Shengjie, a fighter pilot-turned-astronaut, has now successfully completed his first spaceflight.
"I'd like to thank my powerful motherland and thank all space program workers who have struggled successively generation by generation. During this mission, led by our commander, we cooperated closely with the ground teams and worked together to complete all designated tasks," he said.
The third crew member Jiang Xinlin shared his excitement after also completing his first space mission and looked forward to his next space trip.
"Now that I've returned to the embrace of the motherland, my heart is filled with excitement. I feel immensely proud of our great motherland. Moving forward, I will continue to work hard, do a good job in my recovery, and strive to return to space at an early date," he said.
They are in good physical condition, and the mission is a complete success, according to CMSA.
The homecoming of the Shenzhou-17 crew follows the completion of a six-month mission and in-orbit crew rotation with the newly-arrived crew members of the Shenzhou-18 mission to the space station.
Since blasting off for the Chinese space station last October, the Shenzhou-17 crew have witnessed the arrival of the Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft, completed two extravehicular activities, carried out 84 in-orbit experiments with more than 200 samples produced, and have brought back over 400 material samples retrieved after being exposed to space outside the station's Wentian lab module.
During their second spacewalk, the astronauts completed repair work on the solar panels of the space station's core module, which had been subject to minor damage by space debris. This marked China's first-ever extravehicular repair mission.
The Shenzhou-17 spaceship, which was launched on Oct 26 last year, initiated its journey back to Earth after separating from the space station combination at 08:43 Beijing Time (00:43 GMT) on Tuesday.
Shenzhou-17 crew return to Earth after successful six-month mission in space
Shenzhou-17 crew return to Earth after successful six-month mission in space
Shenzhou-17 crew return to Earth after successful six-month mission in space
