China's Shenzhou-18 Astronauts Return To Earth From Tiangong Space Station

Chinese crewed Shenzhou spaceraft touched down Sunday(Nov. 4) at about 1724 UTC, at the Dongfeng landing site in north China, carrying Shenzhou-18 astronauts Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu who lived on board China's Tiangong space station since April 25 this year.

Shenzhou, developed for the nation's crewed space program, was designed based on Russia's Soyuz, but is larger and modernized.

The spacecraft is a single-use vehicle composed of three modules. The descent module houses the crew during launch and reentry. The orbital module provides additional living space and storage during orbit but is jettisoned before reentry. The service module, responsible for propulsion and power, is also discarded prior to reentry. For added safety and aerodynamics, the spacecraft is encased within a fairing with a launch escape system during liftoff.

Sunday's touchdown was the second time that astronauts landed at Dongfeng during the nighttime. Observation and search and rescue teams used infrared thermal imagers to track the capsule.

The Shenzhou-18 trio greeted the incoming Shenzhou-19 crew aboard Tiangong on Oct. 30, meaning China briefly had six astronauts in space.

Commander Ye officially handed over the control of the orbital lab to Shenzhou-19 commander Cai Xuzhe on Nov. 1. The official ceremony marked China's fifth such orbital changeover since completing the three-module space station in late 2022.

Tiangong is roughly 20% as massive as the International Space Station. And China plans to keep it operational for at least a decade. Officials recently unveiled plans to expand the space station into a double T-shape by adding three new modules; and send a Hubble-class space telescope into the same orbit, allowing it to dock to Tiangong for maintenance and repairs.

During their stay aboard Tiangong, Shenzhou-18 crew carried out a range of science experiments including studying ancient microbes. They performed a national record spacewalk outside the space station in May, and embarked on another in June to install protective shielding against space debris.

The trio also conducted emergency drills and captured video of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert -- from which they launched in April -- and the Wenchang spaceport, on the island of Hainan, from which Tiangong's modules were launched.

Ye recently became China's first astronaut to surpass 365 days in space in total, having previously been a member of the Shenzhou 13 mission in 2021-2022.