BEIJING (AP) — China’s Shenzhou-17 spacecraft returned to Earth Tuesday, carrying three astronauts who have completed a six-month mission aboard the country’s orbiting space station. The three, Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin, landed at the Dongfeng site in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the Gobi desert shortly before 6:00 p.m. (1000 GMT). It comes roughly four days after the Shenzhou-18 mission docked with the station with their three-member replacement crew onboard. China built its own space station after being excluded from the International Space Station, largely because of U.S. concerns over the Chinese military’s total control of the space program amid a sharpening competition in technology between the two geopolitical rivals. This year, the Chinese station is slated for two cargo spacecraft missions and two manned spaceflight missions. |
Hedge fund operators go on trial after multibillionI was the first person in the world to survive RABIES without a vaccineSarah Ferguson dons traditional Bavarian dirndl to attend her nephew Seamus's wedding in GermanyBen Roethlisberger named in Donald Trump hushCelebrity birthdays for the week of May 19GameStop, AMC stocks surge as Roaring Kitty returnsI was the first person in the world to survive RABIES without a vaccineJimmy Dunne resigns from PGA Tour boardChina's consumer prices show mild upticks amid continued demand recoveryLisa Bluder retires after Clark