Mission Reports

Three Chinese astronauts landed Sunday after 182 days on China’s Tiangong space station, completing the busiest mission yet for the country’s human spaceflight program. The astronauts performed three spacewalks and assisted in the arrival and outfitting of two new lab modules at the Tiangong outpost.

Three Chinese astronauts closed out a six-month expedition on the Tiangong space station with a landing in northwestern China in their Shenzhou 14 capsule shortly after 7 a.m. EST (1200 GMT) Sunday.

Three Chinese astronauts were greeted by three of their colleagues Tuesday as they floated into the Tiangong space station following a launch on a Long March rocket earlier in the day, marking the first time China’s space program has had six astronauts in orbit at the same time.

A Chinese Long March 2F rocket launched three astronauts into orbit from a remote launch site in the Gobi Desert of northwestern China at 10:08 a.m. EST (1508 GMT) Tuesday. The Shenzhou 15 astronauts are embarking on a half-year expedition on China’s Tiangong space station. Docking at the space station is expected about six hours after liftoff.

Three Chinese astronauts will strap into a Shenzhou spacecraft and rocket into orbit Tuesday in pursuit of China’s Tiangong space station on a six-month mission to transition the space lab from construction into an operational phase.