15. Three Chinese astronauts of the Shenzhou-13 manned spaceship have completed their six-month space station mission (任务). And they returned to Earth safely on April 16, 2022. The mission marks that China has completed the check of key technologies of the space station. And it also sets a record for Chinese astronauts' duration in orbit (在轨时长).
Three astronauts were carried out one by one by ground workers and placed onto chairs. They looked relaxed and waved (挥手) to the ground people.
"I am feeling very good. We want to report to the motherland and the people that we have successfully completed the Shenzhou XⅢ mission, " said Zhai Zhigang, one of three astronauts, during a live program. "It is the power and strength of our country that built the high-flying space station. I am proud of my great motherland," he added.
Wang Yaping is the first Chinese woman to board Tiangong and the first female Chinese space-walker. She said that she was very happy to return to the motherland and wanted to tell her young daughter that her stars﹣picking mom was back.
Ye Guangfu, a newcomer to space, said that he has realized his dream of flying into space.
During their space journey, the astronauts carried out two spacewalks that totalled more than 12 hours. They also gave two science classes for Chinese students. In one experiment, Wang used a toy of Bing Dwen Dwen to show how objects move slowly in a weightless environment.
This year, China will complete the in-orbit construction of its space station. It has planned six launch missions, including the launching of two lab modules (实验舱) Mengtian and Wentian, two cargo crafts (货运飞船) Tianzhou-4 and Tianzhou-5, and two crewed missions Shenzhou-14 and Shenzhou-15.