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Chinese astronauts land safely in former top secret nuclear missile test site

Shenzhou-21 trio touch down at Dongfeng landing site, now a hub for crewed space missions and commercial aerospace launches

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One of the astronauts exits the Shenzhou-22 spaceship’s return capsule after it touched down at the Dongfeng landing site on May 29. Photo: Xinhua
The return capsule of the Shenzhou-22 spaceship is pictured at the Dongfeng landing site on May 29. The Shenzhou-21 astronauts have return after staying in China's Tiangong space station for more than 200 days. Photo: CCTV
Holly ChikandVictoria Bela

The Shenzhou-21 astronauts returned to Earth on Friday after staying in Tiangong space station for more than 200 days, establishing the record for longest on-orbit stay by a Chinese crew.

The trio touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region at 8.11pm aboard the Shenzhou-22 spacecraft, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Medical teams on the ground said the astronauts were in good physical condition.

Their stay was extended by one month after their probe was used in an emergency mission for the previous crew to return home last year.
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The China Manned Space Agency said the crew, which stayed in Tiangong for 210 days, witnessed historic moments, including the country’s first emergency spacecraft launch and delayed crew return, as well as “unforgettable moments of unity and concerted efforts across the entire manned space programme in carrying out emergency operations”.

The team was set to bring back samples of artificial embryos to be used to study whether humans could reproduce in zero gravity.
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Hong Kong’s first astronaut Lai Ka-ying among Shenzhou-23 crew entering Tiangong space station
According to Cang Huaixing, a chief researcher for the space station’s experiments at the Technology and Engineering Centre for Space Utilisation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the experiment went off “successfully”, with the samples refrigerated and ready to be sent back.
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