Chinese piloted spacecraft “Shenzhou-18” with three taiconauts on board successfully landed after the wasolation from the national orbital station “Tiangun”. According to a report by CGTN, the crew of the ship, which had been at the station since April 25, includes E Guanfu (commander), Lee Center, and Lee Hansa. The crew commander made a second flight to the Chinese space station, setting a new record for the length of stay in space among Chinese cosmonauts – with their total time in zero gravity exceeding one year.
The capsule landed on Monday at 01:25 PM (20:25 Sunday in Moscow) on the Dunfen landing site in the Autonomous Region Inner Mongolia in China. Prior to the landing, an official ceremony took place on Friday for the crew of the Shanzhou-19 ship, where symbolic keys from the space station were handed over to them. The Shanzhou-19 ship had been jointly with the orbital laboratory since October 30.
During their time in space, the crew of Shenzhou-18 achieved a new record for a single spacewalk by Chinese astronauts, lasting approximately 8.5 hours. They performed tasks such as mounting protective devices from space garbage, carrying out maintenance on equipment, and preparing for the delivery of goods.
In a historic first for Chinese cosmonautics, an aquarium was established in orbit to study the behavior of fish-zybr in microgravity conditions. Additionally, experiments were conducted to grow plants and analyze changes in the functions of stem cells and gene expression in the unique environment of microgravity.