China’s taikonaut team safely returns to Earth from space station
China successfully landed its space capsule, Shincou-15, carrying three taikonauts back to Earth after a 180-day mission in space. The capsule landed at the Donfing field in the Gobi Desert, and the taikonauts were reported to be in good health. The team had reached the space station on November 30, 2022, and spent six months preparing for future experiments, installing the station’s main skeleton, and carrying out four spacewalks.
The fourth taikonaut group handed over their tasks to the new taikonaut team, consisting of Cing Haypıng, Cu Yangcu, and Gui Hayçao, who were sent to the space station on May 30 with the Shincou-16 shuttle. China is working towards establishing its own space station, which will be called “Tiengong” or “Sky Palace.” The planned station will consist of a core module, two laboratory modules, and a space telescope, roughly the same size as Russia’s defunct Mir Space Station.
The core module, “Tienhi,” will be launched on April 29, 2021, followed by the first laboratory module, “Vintien,” on July 24, 2022, and the second laboratory module, “Mingtien,” on October 31, 2022. With the completion of the “T” shaped mainframe of the station, the installation phase ended, and the “implementation and development phase” began.
The space telescope, “Shuntien,” is also planned to be added to the station as a separate module. “Shincou” shuttles transport personnel and “Tiencou” supplies to the station, where a three-person taikonaut team rotates. This move comes after the United States forbids cooperation in space exploration and prevents China’s participation in the International Space Station program.
