Shenzhou XVIII crew return with space project samples

Shenzhou XVIII mission commander Senior Colonel Ye Guangfu (left) and crew members Lieutenant Colonel Li Cong (middle) and Lieutenant Colonel Li Guangsu wave and cheer during a live program early Monday morning soon after the spaceship's reentry capsule touched down at the Dongfeng Landing Site in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. (WANG JIANGBO/FOR CHINA DAILY)

The Shenzhou XVIII crew returned to Earth early Monday morning, concluding a six-month mission onboard the Tiangong space station.

The astronauts brought back 55 sets of experimental samples, with a combined weight of 34.6 kilograms. These are related to 28 experimental projects, ranging from life sciences to microgravity combustion research.

The spaceship's reentry capsule, carrying mission commander Senior Colonel Ye Guangfu and crew members Lieutenant Colonel Li Cong and Lieutenant Colonel Li Guangsu, flew for more than nine hours before touching down at 1:24 am at the Dongfeng Landing Site in the middle of the Gobi Desert in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Ground recovery personnel from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center — the homeport for China's manned spaceflights — conducted safety checks outside the bell-shaped capsule, opened its hatch and examined the astronauts' health.

The Shenzhou XVIII crew members were then helped out of the capsule and seated on chairs, and they shared their experiences in a live program with a reporter from China Central Television.

Mission commander Ye, who now holds the record among Chinese astronauts of spending the longest time in space, said he is grateful to the motherland and its people, as well as to all those taking part in the nation's manned space programs.

"Through this mission, I returned to the Tiangong space station and had an orbital journey for the second time. It gave me an opportunity to have a personal experience of the new developments made in our space industry," he said.

"We will always keep in mind the tasks given by the Party and the people, and continue to work hard to fulfill our duty in building our country into a great space power," he added.

Li Cong said the crew members cooperated very well with each other to achieve all the given tasks, noting that their two spacewalks were fully successful. He added that the trio will return for training as soon as possible, so that they can take part in future space missions.

After all the mandatory procedures were completed at the landing site, Ye and his crew members were flown back to Beijing. They will undergo a six-month quarantine and recuperation program, which is a standard procedure for Chinese astronauts returning from space.

The experimental samples brought to Earth by the Shenzhou XVIII crew have also been transported to Beijing and will be delivered to scientists after initial examination, said the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Ye and his teammates, who were members of the seventh crew to inhabit Tiangong, had taken over the space station in late April from their Shenzhou XVII peers.

During their orbital stay, the trio conducted two spacewalks to mount and fine-tune equipment outside Tiangong, and carried out a lot of scientific and technological tasks.

The Shenzhou XVIII mission was the second space journey for Ye and the first for his two teammates.

Ye now holds the record of spending the longest time in orbit — a total of 374 days across two missions.

Senior Colonel Tang Hongbo held the record, having spent a total of 279 days in orbit during the Shenzhou XII and Shenzhou XVII missions.

At 4:12 pm on Sunday, the Shenzhou XVIII spaceship departed from Tiangong and flew on a return trajectory before gradually reentering the Earth's atmosphere.

Before setting out on their return journey, the astronauts handed over their work to the Shenzhou XIX crew, transmitted scientific experimental data back to Earth, and sorted and transferred materials between the space station and their spaceship.

Over the next six months, Tiangong will be manned by Shenzhou XIX mission commander Senior Colonel Cai Xuzhe and crew members Lieutenant Colonel Song Lingdong and Lieutenant Colonel Wang Haoze, who arrived at the colossal space station on Wednesday afternoon.