This is the longest stay ever made by China in space: the three astronauts of the Shenzhou-13 mission returned to Earth on Saturday April 16, after six months in the Chinese space station. A new successful step for Beijing in its ambitious space program intended to catch up with the United States, Europe and Russia.
After triggering its red and white parachute, the return capsule, where the crew – made up of a woman and two men – had taken place, landed shortly before 4 a.m. French time in the Mongolian desert. Inland (Northern China).
“Shenzhou-13 return capsule successfully landed”, said state television (CCTV). Live footage showed the capsule landing in a cloud of dust. Ground crews, who had kept away from the landing site, rushed in helicopters to reach the capsule. They applauded the astronauts who took turns saying they felt ” good “.
The “Heavenly Palace” built by the end of 2022
With 183 days in space, the crew smashed the previous national record, set in 2021, during the previous manned mission, Shenzhou-12, which was 92 days. The crew was made up of three army pilots: Commander Zhai Zhigang (55), his colleague Wang Yaping (42) and the youngest Ye Guangfu (41), whose first spaceflight it was.
“Six-month stays are common, whether for Mir [l’ancienne station russo-soviétique] or for the International Space Station [ISS] »noted Jonathan McDowell, astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, in the United States. ” The goal [avec Shenzhou-13] was not in itself to establish a record but to develop the skills necessary for a permanent occupation of the station “China’s ultimate goal, he told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Named “Tiangong” (“Heavenly Palace”), but also known by its English acronym CSS (for “Chinese Space Station” in French), it should be completed by the end of 2022. Similar in size to Mir, its life must be about fifteen years.
Next manned mission in June
An analysis of the state of health of the astronauts of Shenzhou-13 will allow China to learn more about the consequences of a prolonged absence of gravity on organisms. In six months, the crew also continued the construction of the station, hosted two Internet courses for Chinese schoolchildren, carried out experiments and refined their mastery of long-term stays.
“For example, they improved their maintenance skills, through spacewalks and manipulations of the robotic arm” of the station, detailed to AFP Chen Lan, analyst of the site GoTaikonauts.com, specialized in the Chinese space program. Shenzhou-13 was not “not a significant breakthrough” more “the completion of the CSS later this year will be a very important event”he pointed out.
Next stages of construction: the sending of a cargo ship in May then another manned mission, Shenzhou-14, which should be launched in June. The last two space station modules are to be sent from July. They will take the direction of space from the launch center of Wenchang, located on the tropical island of Hainan (south). Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that he wanted to make it a site “world class”. From Shenzhou-14, the CSS should be permanently occupied.
Already several space successes
Once poor, China has been investing billions of euros in its space program for several decades. The Asian giant sent its first astronaut into space in 2003. Since then, it has achieved some remarkable feats, especially in recent years.
China landed a device on the far side of the Moon in early 2019 (a world first). In 2020, it brought back samples from the Moon and finalized Beidou, its satellite navigation system (competitor of the American GPS). In 2021, she landed a small robot on Mars and plans to send men to the Moon by 2030.
China’s ambition to build its own station has been fueled by the American refusal to accept Chinese people on the ISS – a program piloted by NASA. This did not prevent the crew of Shenzhou-13 from discussing last week with 150 American young people, parents and teachers gathered at the initiative of the Chinese Embassy in Washington. During this meeting, a video message was broadcast from the boss of the American company SpaceX, Elon Musk, who called “humanity to work together” to the conquest of space.