Three Chinese astronauts return to earth after record stay in space
The capsule of the Shenzou-13 mission, just after landing in Mongolia, Saturday April 16.
© AP - Peng Yuan
Text by: RFI Follow
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The three astronauts of the Shenzhou-13 mission returned to Earth on Saturday after six months in the Chinese space station, the longest stay in space ever made by China.
This was announced by the state television channel CCTV.
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This is another successful step for Beijing in its ambitious space program to catch up with the United States, Europe and Russia.
With 183 days spent in space, the crew smashes the previous national record for a stay in space, which was 92 days and which was set in 2021 during the previous manned mission, Shenzhou-12.
The crew was made up of three army pilots: Commander Zhai Zhigang, 55, his colleague Wang Yaping, 42, and the youngest Ye Guangfu, 41, whose first spaceflight it was.
An analysis of the state of health of the astronauts of Shenzhou-13 will allow China to learn more about the impact of a prolonged absence of gravity on organisms.
Frequent six-month stays
In six months, the crew led two courses via the Internet for Chinese schoolchildren, carried out experiments, refined their mastery of long-term stays and continued the construction of the station.
Named in Chinese Tiangong, the "Heavenly Palace", but also known by its English acronym CSS - for "Chinese Space Station" in French - it should be completed by the end of 2022.
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Six-month stays are frequent, whether for the former Russian-Soviet station, Mir or for the International Space Station (ISS)
, explained to AFP Jonathan McDowell, astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Science. astrophysics, in the United States.
The goal with Shenzhou-13 was not in itself to establish a record, but to develop the skills necessary for a permanent occupation of the station.
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China, which sent its first astronaut into space in 2003, has achieved some space feats in recent years.
At the beginning of 2019, it placed a device on the far side of the Moon, a world first.
In 2020, it brought back samples from the Moon and finalized Beidou, its satellite navigation system competing with American GPS.
In 2021, she landed a small robot on Mars and plans to send men to the Moon by 2030.
(
With
AFP)
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