Three Chinese astronauts are set to return to Earth tonight, and you’ll be able to watch it live.
China’s Shenzhou 16 astronauts (or taikonauts, as Chinese spaceflyers are known) launched to the nation’s Tiangong space station aboard a Long March 2F rocket in May 2023. The crew consists of commander Jing Haipeng, spaceflight engineer Zhu Yangzhu and payload specialist Gui Haichao.
The trio has spent around five months aboard the orbital laboratory conducting a wide selection of scientific experiments and public outreach. Zhu and Jing also executed an eight-hour spacewalk in June 2023 to perform maintenance on cameras aboard Tiangong. Tonight, all eyes are back on the crew as their Shenzhou spacecraft is ready to the touch down on the Dongfeng Landing Site in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Coverage of the capsule’s return starts at 7 p.m. ET (2300 GMT). Watch it live here at Space.com courtesy of CCTV.
Related: China’s Shenzhou 17 astronauts arrive at Tiangong space station (video)
Shenzhou-16’s alternative crew, Shenzhou-17, arrived at Tiangong just days ago. “Construct a dream on the Tiangong space station and proceed to work hard,” the brand new crew said in unison together with the three homebound astronauts they replaced during a welcome ceremony (translation by Chinese broadcaster CCTV, which livestreamed the event). “China’s space station is at all times price looking forward to.”
The newly-arrived Shenzhou 17 crew consists of mission commander Tang Hongbo, aged 48, and former People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) fighter pilots Tang Shengjie, aged 34, and Jiang Xinlin, aged 35. They’re the seventh and youngest crew to go to Tiangong up to now.
Tiangong is about one-fifth the scale of the International Space Station, and was just accomplished in late 2022 with the addition of its third and final section, the Mengtian module.