🚀 Blast Off to Earth! China's Shenzhou-17 crew is gearing up for their epic return on April 30 after an amazing six-month journey in space! 🌌
On Sunday, the Shenzhou-17 astronauts handed over the keys 🔑 of the China Space Station (CSS) to the fresh Shenzhou-18 crew in a special ceremony. It's like passing the baton in a cosmic relay race! 🌠
Preparations are in full swing at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The search and rescue teams even had a final rehearsal on Friday to make sure everything goes smoothly when the heroes touch down. 🛬
Meet the stellar Shenzhou-17 trio: Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie, and Jiang Xinlin. They blasted off to the CSS last October and have spent about half a year orbiting our planet! 🌏 Imagine the views they've had!
Meanwhile, China launched the Shenzhou-18 spaceship on Thursday, sending up astronauts Ye Guangfu, Li Cong, and Li Guangsu for their own six-month mission. The two crews had an out-of-this-world meetup on Friday for an in-orbit crew handover. Talk about a space party! 🎉
During their mission, the Shenzhou-17 crew conducted 84 experiments and tests, producing over 200 samples in areas like space life science, biotechnology, space medicine, and material science. They're bringing back some serious science swag! 🧪🔬
Fun fact: When the cable of the Tianhe core module's solar panels was hit by space debris, causing a power issue, our space heroes carried out two spacewalks to fix it—the first-ever extravehicular repair mission for China! Talk about cosmic mechanics! 🛠️
As we eagerly await their safe return, let's give a big shoutout to the Shenzhou-17 crew for their incredible contributions to space exploration! 👏
Reference(s):
China's Shenzhou-17 crew completes handover, return set for April 30
cgtn.com
