"Wrapping up 204 days in orbit, three Chinese astronauts flew back to Earth aboard a Shenzhou spacecraft Friday, leaving three crewmates behind on the Tiangong space station with a busted lifeboat. Commander Chen Dong, concluding his third trip to space, and rookie crewmates Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie touched down inside their spacecraft at the Dongfeng landing zone at 1:29 am EST (06:29 UTC) Friday."
"The parachute-assisted landing occurred in the mid-afternoon at the return zone, located in the remote Gobi Desert of northwestern China. Chinese space officials upended operations on the country's Tiangong space lab last week after astronauts found damage to one of two Shenzhou return capsules docked at the station. The China Manned Space Agency, run by the country's military, announced changes to the space station's flight plan November 4, the day before three crew members were supposed to depart and fly home."
Three astronauts concluded a 204-day mission and landed in the Dongfeng return zone after a parachute-assisted descent in the Gobi Desert. They left three crewmates aboard Tiangong when one of two docked Shenzhou return capsules was found damaged. The China Manned Space Agency changed the station's flight plan and postponed the Shenzhou 20 crew's return after officials said Shenzhou 20 was suspected of being impacted by small space debris. Replacement crew arrived on Shenzhou 21 before the planned departure. Preparations for undocking and landing remained opaque until hours before the touchdown. Commander Chen Dong completed his third spaceflight.
Read at WIRED
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]