The crew of China's Shenzhou-19 spacecraft held a handover ceremony with the Shenzhou-20 crew and transferred the keys of the country's space station to the latter on Sunday.
"This key symbolizes not only the handover between our two crew groups, but also a heavy mission and responsibility. Now, I'm handing the key into your hands, and you will be responsible for managing, caring for, and maintaining the space station," said Cai Xuzhe, commander of the Shenzhou-19 crew, with the other two members being Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze.
Chen Dong, commander of the Shenzhou-20 crew, thanked the Shenzhou-19 trio for their diligent care of the space station.
"Thank you, the Shenzhou-19 crew, for your taking such good care of our space home. During these few days of handover, we have learned a lot of valuable experience and practices. We assure you and our country and the people that we will, just like you, carefully and meticulously complete every task and do our part well," said Chen.
The Shenzhou-20 spacecraft, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Thursday, sending astronauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie to space. The Shenzhou-19 crew has now completed all the planned tasks. The three astronauts will take the Shenzhou-19 spacecraft and return to the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on April 29, according to the China Manned Space Agency.
At present, final preparations are in full swing across all participating systems and the landing site is in readiness to welcome the trio back.
China's Shenzhou-19 astronauts complete handover, returning to Earth on Tuesday
China's Shenzhou-19 astronauts complete handover, returning to Earth on Tuesday
China's Shenzhou-19 astronauts complete handover, returning to Earth on Tuesday
