Chinese astronauts set record with six months in space

A Shenzhou spacecraft landed safely in northern China carrying three taikonauts, about 9 hours after departing from the Tianhe core …
Chinese astronauts set record with six months in space
Recovery crews attend the Shenzhou-13 capsule shortly after landing. Credit: CMSA/Li Yunxi

Edinburgh, 19 April 2022. – A Shenzhou spacecraft landed safely in northern China carrying three taikonauts, about 9 hours after departing from the Tianhe core module of the Tiangong space station. The “rapid return” procedure employed by the Chinese for the first time, cut the number of orbits from 11 down to five.

Although six-month missions are normal in case of the ISS, China is not part of that program. The crew of the Shenzhou-13 mission therefore set a national record with 183 days in space. The longest Chinese crewed mission before this was Shenzhou-12, where three astronauts spent 92 days in low Earth orbit.

Startup Startcamp Bremen SPACE - banner

During the Shenzhou-13 mission Wang Yaping became the first woman to live aboard the station. She was also the first Chinese woman to conduct a spacewalk. Wang, Ye Guangfu and Zhai Zhigang conducted over 20 different science experiments and delivered two educational lectures from Tiangong.

Shenzhou-13 was the second crewed mission to Tianhe and part of the planned 11 missions required to finish the space station. Currently, the Tianzhou-4 cargo spacecraft is being prepared for launch next month to deliver supplies and propellant to Tianhe. This will be followed by the Shenzhou-14 crewed mission, scheduled for June. Two new modules, Wentian and Mengtian, are also expected to launch in Q3 2022.

Picture of SpaceWatch.GLOBAL
SpaceWatch.GLOBAL
Continue Reading
Business Club - Thank You
Join BusinessClub
SWGL FanShop

Don't Miss Any Updates

NEWSLETTER

Subscribe now to receive the best of space insights directly in your inbox! Free of charge, finished in just 20 seconds!
* Required
Email
Contact
Newsletter
Please select the newsletter of your choice *

Yes, I would like to receive the selected newsletters for free.

You can unsubscribe anytime via the link in our emails or by contacting us. We respect your information. For details, check our Privacy Policy.
By clicking below, you agree to our terms, in particular the transfer of data to Mailchimp.
.