China's Shenzhou-21 Crew Concludes Over 200-Day Mission
The return capsule carrying astronauts Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, and Zhang Hongzhang made contact with the ground at 8:12 pm Beijing time (1212 GMT) at a designated recovery site in China's Inner Mongolia region, marking a successful end to the Shenzhou-21 mission.
The trio's homecoming follows China's rapid-fire pace of space operations — just days earlier, on Sunday, the Shenzhou-23 rocket lifted off, delivering a fresh crew of three — Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan, and Li Jiaying — to the orbiting outpost.
Before departing, the outgoing Shenzhou-21 team formally handed over command of Tiangong to their successors during an in-orbit transfer ceremony earlier this week, ensuring an uninterrupted chain of operations aboard the station.
The completed mission represents another milestone in China's steadily expanding human spaceflight program. The Tiangong station sits at the core of Beijing's broader strategic vision — one that extends well beyond Earth orbit, encompassing long-range goals in scientific research, space exploration, and eventual crewed lunar missions.
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