Shenzhou-18 Crew Return to Earth after Successful 6-Month Space Station Mission

Shenzhou-18 Crew Return to Earth after Successful 6-Month Space Station Mission

The return capsule of the Shenzhou-18 crewed spacecraft, carrying astronauts Ye Guangfu, Li Cong, and Li Guangsu, safely touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Monday, November 4, 2024, at 1:24am Beijing time. The three astronauts, after staying in orbit for 192 days, were all in good health and the Shenzhou-18 crewed mission was declared a success, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said. All three astronauts were out of the capsule by 02:15am Beijing Time.

The crew will enter a period of medical quarantine and undergo comprehensive medical examinations and health evaluations, it said, adding that they will meet with the press in Beijing afterward.

Shenzhou-18 commander Ye Guangfu, who now holds the longest duration of stay in orbit among Chinese astronauts, was the first of the three crew members to emerge from the return capsule.

"I am proud of my motherland. I am grateful to the great motherland, the people of China, and the entire project team for making our dream of spaceflight a reality and ensuring our safe return. Our Shenzhou spacecraft family has continued the relay of space exploration, and I believe that the new record of time spent in orbit by Chinese astronauts will soon be set," he said.

"During this trip to realize our space dream, our crew members united as one, and collaborated effectively with the ground teams. The two extravehicular activities were completed smoothly, as were the in-orbit scientific research experiments," said Li Cong, the second astronaut to come out of the return capsule.

"Space is vast, magical and beautiful. We all enjoy the pleasure brought by weightlessness. Returning to Earth from space is a mixture of the excitement and joy of being back home, as well as a sense of attachment to space. The greatest feeling at this moment is that I am so proud of our great motherland," said Li Guangsu, the third astronaut.

The Shenzhou-18 astronauts, Ye Guangfu, Li Cong, and Li Guangsu, were launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on April 25, 2024. They completed all planned tasks during their long duration mission that lasted over six months.

During the mission, the Shenzhou-18 crew conducted 100+ scientific experiments and tests and completed two spacewalks.

They became the country's first astronauts to bring fish into space, raising them in an experiment cabinet, while collecting water samples and fish eggs for research. They will bring back the samples with them. This is expected to provide valuable insights for scientists to study the life of vertebrates in space.

After the arrival of the Shenzhou-19 trio at the space station on Oct 30, 2024, the two crews each comprising three astronauts spent five days together in orbit. A handover ceremony was held Friday night in which Shenzhou-18 commander Ye Guangfu transferred the keys of the space station to Shenzhou-19 commander Cai Xuzhe.

Shenzhou-18 Crew:

Commander Ye Guangfu (叶光富)

Mission Specialist Li Cong (李聪)

Mission Specialist Li Guangsu (李广苏)

Video Credit: CCTV

Duration: 4 minutes, 40 seconds

Release Date: Nov. 4, 2024

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