Three Chinese Astronauts Land Back on Earth After Space Mission

Early Monday morning, three astronauts from China safely returned to Earth after spending half a year on their country's Tiangong space station. Their capsule, slowed by a parachute, touched down in Inner Mongolia at around 1:24 a. m. The landing site was marked by a waving Chinese flag. China's Tiangong space station, completed just two years ago, is a significant part of the country's ambitious space exploration program. Recently, China has made notable achievements, like bringing back moon rocks and landing a rover on Mars. Their goal? To become the second nation to put a human on the moon by 2030. Before their return, the astronauts welcomed a new crew of three, who will now take over the space station. This new team will conduct experiments, perform spacewalks, and install protective equipment against space debris. The space station, named Tiangong or "Heavenly Palace, " has already faced challenges, including maneuvers to avoid debris and partial power loss due to damage from space junk. Interestingly, China itself has contributed to space debris, notably with the break-up of a rocket stage during a launch last August. This incident involved the first 18 satellites for a planned communications network similar to Starlink. Currently, only Chinese astronauts have visited the Tiangong space station. However, discussions are underway to select and train astronauts from other nations to join future missions. Unlike the International Space Station, which has welcomed astronauts from several countries, China is excluded due to U. S. concerns about the military involvement in its space program.