China’s Shenzhou 18 crew are able to return residence after greater than six months in house.
Astronauts Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu have been dwelling aboard the Tiangong house station since April 25 this 12 months, however are set to return to Earth on Sunday (Nov. 3) after finishing their mission.
The trio greeted the incoming Shenzhou 19 crew aboard Tiangong on Oct. 30, which means China briefly has six astronauts in house. Commander Ye formally handed over the management of the orbital outpost to Shenzhou 19 commander Cai Xuzhe on Nov. 1. The official ceremony marked China’s fifth such orbital changeover since finishing the three-module house station in late 2022.
Ye, Li and Li are actually anticipated to return to Earth aboard their Shenzhou 18 spacecraft and contact down within the Dongfeng touchdown space close to Jiuquan spaceport at round 12:00 p.m. EST on Nov. 3 (1700 GMT; or 1:00 a.m. Beijing time on Nov. 4), in response to airspace closure notices.
Associated: China launches 3 astronauts to Tiangong house station on Shenzhou 19 mission (video)
It is going to be the second time astronauts land at Dongfeng in the course of the nighttime. Remark and search and rescue groups have been performing ultimate inspections, changes and drills forward of the return of Shenzhou 18. Groups will use infrared thermal imagers for monitoring.
Commander Ye and crew carried out a spread of science experiments throughout their time aboard Tiangong, together with learning historical microbes. They carried out a nationwide file spacewalk exterior the house station in Could, and launched into one other in June to set up protecting shielding in opposition to house particles. Ye additionally not too long ago turned China’s first astronaut to surpass three hundred and sixty five days in house in complete, having beforehand been a member of the Shenzhou 13 mission in 2021-2022.
The trio additionally performed emergency drills and captured video of the Jiuquan Satellite tv for pc Launch Middle within the Gobi Desert—from which they launched in April—and the Wenchang spaceport, on the island of Hainan, from which Tiangong’s modules had been launched.
China intends to maintain Tiangong, which is roughly 20% as huge because the Worldwide House Station, completely occupied and operational for no less than a decade. Officers not too long ago unveiled plans to develop the house station right into a double T-shape by including three new modules. It would additionally ship a Hubble-class house telescope into the identical orbit, permitting it to dock to Tiangong for upkeep and repairs.
