Ground search team ready for Shenzhou-18 crew's return

The ground search and rescue team at the Dongfeng Landing Site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has been ready to ensure safe return of the Shenzhou-18 crew to the Earth despite the challenges of nighttime operation in the desert.

The Shenzhou-18 spaceship separated from the Tiangong space station combination at 16:12 Beijing Time (0812 GMT) on Sunday, according to the China Manned Space Agency. The return capsule of the spaceship, carrying astronauts Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu, is scheduled to touch down at the landing site in the early morning on Monday.

The ground team will take charge of searching for and transferring the return capsule, while providing immediate medical examination for the astronauts.

The team is equipped with a search vehicle, which will run in the forefront of the search operation. It can accommodate 10 searchers who are able to carry out the initial tasks if it finds the return capsule first.

"The Shenzhou-18 will return to our Dongfeng Landing Site. The landing site consists of the eastern and western parts. The eastern part is composed of soft Gobi, saline-alkali land, sacsaoul forest, mountains and rivers, while the western part is hard Gobi. This time the return capsule will target the western part," said Chen Guodong, a searcher of the team.

Besides the search vehicle, the team is also equipped with vehicles for command, communication, engineering transport and medical service.

Drivers of the vehicles have undergone special trainings in advance to adapt to the complicated road conditions in the desert, while more lights have been installed on the vehicles to illuminate the dark night during the search operation, according to Chen.

"This dark night may be better than that of the Shenzhou-14 return with a higher temperature, not so cold. However, we still conducted some targeted trainings. Our personnel carried out an overall reconnaissance of the landing site. We conducted intensive trainings for drivers to strengthen their capability of driving a vehicle in complicated roads, especially at night. We added search lights on the vehicles to give our drivers better field of vision at night so that they have enough time and ability to respond to different terrains. We installed a square light on the engineering transport vehicle to illuminate the dark night at the landing spot so that our staff can work as smoothly as in the daytime," Chen said.

Ground search team ready for Shenzhou-18 crew's return

A delegation of 40 students and teachers from seven Chinese mainland universities on Thursday wrapped up their nine-day visit to Taiwan. They set off for Taiwan on Nov. 27 and visited universities, historical sites, scenic spots, as well as sports, sci-tech and cultural venues on the island, widely engaging with locals throughout the tour.

The delegation made the tour at the invitation of the Taiwan-based Ma Ying-jeou Culture and Education Foundation.

"The young people from both sides of the Strait share the same root, and we are having a harmonious communication this time. We also welcome young people from Taiwan to visit the mainland for exchange," Cao Yibo, a student from Peking University, told reporters during the tour.

The delegation included table tennis Olympic champion Ma Long who studies at Beijing Sport University, and air rifle Olympic champion Yang Qian of Tsinghua University.

"In the future, I would like to visit Taiwan again. I did not expect that so many compatriots in Taiwan would come to welcome and us and pay so much attention to our exchange tour," Ma said.

Hsiao Hsu-tsen, executive director of the Ma Ying-jeou Culture and Education Foundation, saw off the delegation at the airport on Thursday, and said the mainland students and teachers had received Taiwan residents' heartfelt welcome wherever they went.

"The farewell dinner party was held yesterday evening, when almost all students from the mainland shared their feelings. What moved me so much is that every one of them thanked people here, because the latter sincerely and warmly welcomed them wherever they went during the nine-day tour. They told me that when they go back, they will tell their relatives and friends that people in Taiwan are kind, hospitable and warm. I believe that is the most important purpose of the exchange across the Strait," he said.

Calling youth exchanges a foundation of cross-Strait relations in the future, Hsiao said the foundation will carry on and continue to promote such exchanges across the Strait.

This is the second delegation of mainland teachers and students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, following the visit by a first delegation in July last year.

Delegation of mainland university students, teachers wraps up Taiwan visit