According to state broadcaster CCTV, three Chinese astronauts, two men and one woman – astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Ye Guangfu, and Wang Yaping — arrived in northern China on Saturday (April 16) after spending 183 days in space, completing the country’s longest crewed space mission to date.
After landing a rover on Mars and sending probes to the Moon, the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft is the latest mission in Beijing’s effort to become a major space power rivalling the United States.
The broadcaster’s live feed showed the capsule landing in a cloud of dust, with ground staff who had stayed clear of the landing site racing in on helicopters to approach the capsule. Major-General Zhai was the first person to emerge from the capsule 45 minutes after it landed.
