After their record-breaking flight, the three astronauts aboard the core module for China's proposed space station are preparing for their return flight.
The Chinese space program did not give an exact time on Friday, but foreign experts, referring to instructions to air traffic, expect a landing on Saturday morning.
At six months, the crew of "Shenzhou 13" (Magic Ship) was longer in space than other Chinese astronauts before them, almost twice as long as the previous Chinese record in 2021. The capsule with astronaut Wang Yaping and her two male colleagues Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu is scheduled to arrive in the Gobi Desert at Dongfeng Landing Area in Inner Mongolia.
The three astronauts had undertaken two spacewalks, conducted a whole series of scientific experiments and prepared for the further expansion of the space station known as "Tiangong" (Heaven's Palace).
Wang Yaping was not only the first Chinese astronaut to be aboard the core module dubbed "Tianhe" (Celestial Harmony), but also the first to undertake a spacewalk.
In the next phase, a cargo flight is planned in May to deliver materials and fuel for the Shenzhou 14 flight expected in June.
During the stay of the three-headed Crex of "Shenzhou 14" in the main part of the future space station, two more modules are to be launched into space for extension later in the year.
Another cargo flight and another manned mission, Shenzhou 15, may be planned for late 2022.
Then six astronauts are to stay temporarily in the space station and the construction phase of the space station is to be completed.