BEIJING: China’s Shenzhou-14 manned spaceship separated from the space station combination on Sunday, and the astronauts onboard, Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe, are expected to return home tonight, according to the China Manned Space Agency.
The Shenzhou-14 trio will now return to Earth with expected touchdown at the Dongfeng landing site in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Sunday night.
It may be recalled that China successfully launched the Shenzhou-15 spaceship on Tuesday night with three astronauts on board. A Long March-2F Y15 rocket blasted off with the spacecraft from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 11:08 p.m. Beijing Time (1508 GMT).
About 10 minutes after the launch, Shenzhou-15 separated from the rocket and entered its designated orbit. The crew members, Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu, are in good shape and the launch is a complete success, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) declared.
The Shenzhou-15 spaceship made a fast, automated rendezvous and docked with the space station at 5:42 a.m. the next day.
