Chinese Manned Spacecraft 'Shenzhou 12' Astronauts Return to Earth After 3 Months

Shenzhou 12 Return Capsule Landed on the Ground [Photo by Xinhua News Agency]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The three astronauts of China's Shenzhou 12, sent to space for the construction of an independent space station, returned to Earth on the 17th (local time) after completing a three-month mission.

The return capsule of the manned spacecraft Shenzhou 12 safely landed at the scheduled area of the Dongfeng landing site in Inner Mongolia, China, at 1:34 PM, according to China Central Television (CCTV).

CCTV reported that the Shenzhou 12 manned spaceflight mission was successful and that the three astronauts on board are in good condition.

They lived in Tianhe for 90 days, which is the longest duration a Chinese astronaut has stayed in space on a single mission.

During this time, the astronauts conducted activities such as spacecraft repair and maintenance, equipment replacement, scientific experiments, and spacewalks.

Earlier, Shenzhou 12 successfully separated from Tianhe, the core module of the space station, at 8:56 AM the previous day.

Shenzhou 12 was launched on June 17, ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (July 1). The three crew members successfully docked and entered the core module on the same day.

China plans to sequentially launch the Tianzhou 3 cargo spacecraft and the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft to complete the construction of its independent space station, Tiangong, by the end of next year.

The Tiangong space station is 37 meters long and weighs 90 tons, about one-third the size of the International Space Station (ISS), which is jointly operated by the United States and Russia.

China is ambitiously advancing its "space rise" to rival the United States, having returned lunar samples with Chang'e 5 in December last year and landing a probe on Mars in May.