BUTOLPOST — Another historic moment occurred in China’s space program. The astronauts on the Shenzhou-21 mission crew officially handed over control of the Chinese space station to the Shenzhou-23 crew in a handover ceremony held on Thursday (28/5).
During the procession, the Shenzhou-21 crew symbolically handed over the “keys” to the space station to the new crew who will continue various missions and research in orbit.
The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said that all the tasks carried out by the Shenzhou-21 crew had been successfully completed according to plan.
After several months of carrying out missions in space, the three Shenzhou-21 astronauts are now preparing to return to Earth using the Shenzhou-22 spacecraft. They are scheduled to land at the Dongfeng landing site, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, northern China, in the next few days.
Currently, various final preparations are continuing to be made, both in the flight support system and at the landing site, to ensure that the astronaut’s return process is safe and smooth.
The success of this crew change once again confirms China’s big ambitions in strengthening its space exploration program and keeping its space station operational in a sustainable manner.***
