Chinese Astronauts Return to Earth from Historic Mission

Chinese Astronauts Return to Earth from Historic Mission

Three Chinese astronauts, including China’s first female astronaut Liu Yang, returned to Earth Thursday (June 28) after 13 days in space on a historic mission that made their country only the third nation ever to successfully dock a manned spacecraft to another in orbit.

China's Shenzhou 9 space capsule landed at about10 p.m. EDT (10 a.m. Friday, June 29 Beijing time) in Inner Mongolia, an independent region of the People's Republic of China. To prepare for their journey home, the space crew – separated the Shenzhou 9 capsule its target, the Tiangong 1 prototype space module, on Wednesday (June 27).

Their landing was broadcast live on China's state-run CCTV television network, showing the capsule streaking through the atmosphere like a meteor, deploying its main parachute, then making the final landing and rolling over on its side in a rough touchdown.

Jing and crewmates Liu Yang and Liu Wang appeared to be in good health after their space mission. The trio had broad smiles and waved to cameras after leaving their spacecraft, but sat in reclined chairs to help ease their adaptation back to Earth's gravity after nearly two weeks in weightlessness.

China's Premier Wen Jiabao declared the Shenzhou 9 mission a complete success, shortly after the landing.  Proclaim

China's Shenzou 9 Mission represented an important leap forward for China's space program as it included successful displays of manual and automatic dockings. In addition to being China's longest space mission to date, it also tested technology vital for the country's goal of building space station in orbit by the year 2020.

Jing, the commander, is China's first veteran astronaut to fly in space twice. The third crewmember, Liu Wang, served as the Shenzhou 9 docking pilot.

"It feels really good to feel the ground and to be back home," Liu Wang said.

On June 16, the Shenzhou 9 mission launched into orbit and performed China's first manned space rendezvous, after the spacecraft docked to Tiangong 1 robotically on June 18. Several days later, on June 24, the astronauts moved from the orbiting module and parked their Shenzhou 9 spacecraft once more, demonstrating manual control over the entire procedure.

Posted by Sophia Andrews on Saturday June 30 2012, 4:17 AM EST. Ref: Google. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Travel. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0