China continues to establish itself as a great space power.
Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Friday (September 17) after a record-breaking three-month stay in space, where they were the first occupants of the Chinese station under construction, state television CCTV reported.
The crew took off in mid-June from Chinese soil.
The Shenzhou-12 mission was the longest ever carried out in space by the Chinese.
Suspended from a red and white striped parachute, their capsule made landfall on Friday around 13:35 (5:35 GMT) in the Gobi Desert (northwest China), according to CCTV images.
This is a new step in the ambitious Chinese space program which has already placed probes on the Moon, on Mars and plans to send men to the lunar star by 2030.
CCTV broadcast live the return of the three men, including impressive images from a camera on board the capsule, which showed it flying over the ocher-colored desert at high speed.
Huang Weifen, a senior manned space program official, told CCTV that astronauts will now have to undergo quarantine.
A precaution taken "not because of the Covid-19" but because "their immunity has been weakened" by their long stay in space, she stressed.
"This step is taken to protect them."
Objective moon
On board Tianhe ("Heavenly Harmony"), the only one of the three space station modules already in space, astronauts Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo had many tasks to perform.
The three men carried out spacewalks, carried out maintenance operations or even installed equipment to make the station operational.
Named in English CSS (for "Chinese Space Station") and in Chinese Tiangong ("Heavenly Palace"), the station, when completed, will be similar in size to the former Soviet station Mir (1986-2001).
Its lifespan will be at least ten years.
>> To see on France 24:
Space conquest: what are China's ambitions in space?
Shenzhou-12 was the first Chinese manned mission in nearly five years and a matter of prestige for the Communist Party (CCP), which is celebrating its centenary this year.
The Shenzhou-12 mission was the third launch of the 11 required to build the station.
The next launch, that of the Tianzhou-3 spacecraft, which will only carry equipment, will take place in the coming days, according to space authorities.
Specialized websites are counting on this Monday.
With AFP
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