Astronauts to return to Earth after five-month mission

The Shenzhou XVI mission crew will soon return to Earth in a matter of hours after a five-month mission that marked the first space journey for any Chinese civilian.

The Shenzhou XVI spacecraft, carrying the three astronauts — mission commander Major General Jing Haipeng, Colonel Zhu Yangzhu and Professor Gui Haichao — left the Tiangong space station at 8:37 pm Monday and has been on a return journey, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

In the next six months, the Tiangong station will be manned by the Shenzhou XVII trio — mission commander Senior Colonel Tang Hongbo, Lieutenant Colonel Tang Shengjie and Lieutenant Colonel Jiang Xinlin — who arrived at the colossal flying outpost on Thursday evening.

Before setting out on their return trip, Jing’s team handed over their work to the new crew and sorted and transferred materials between the station and their spaceship.

After their spaceship undocked with the Tiangong, the Shenzhou XVI crew took pictures of the Chinese space station against a background of Earth, the space agency said.

In the following hours, the Shenzhou XVI vessel will re-enter the atmosphere under guidance from ground controllers, it noted.

The agency said previously that the spaceship’s reentry capsule will carry the crew to land on the Dongfeng Landing Site in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region on Tuesday.

Jing’s team entered the Tiangong station on May 30. Their journey was China’s 11th manned spaceflight and the fifth crewed mission to the Tiangong station.