Chinese astronauts back on Earth after six months

Three Chinese astronauts have returned safely to Earth after spending 183 days in space. It was the longest manned Chinese space mission to date. The previous record was 90 days. The landing of the space capsule in the Gobi Desert was broadcast live on Chinese state television early Saturday morning.

The taikonauts, as astronauts are called in China, left last October for the Tiangong space station, which is under construction, about 400 kilometers from Earth. There they conducted experiments and continued to build the space base, which will remain in use for ten years. They also made two spacewalks.

China has big ambitions in space. For example, it has already placed a rover on Mars and in 2033 it also wants to make a manned landing on the ‘red planet’. In 2019, China became the first country to place a spacecraft on the ‘back’ of the moon.