TAIPEI, Taiwan: On Tuesday morning, a trio of Chinese astronauts safely returned to Earth after a six-month stint aboard China’s orbiting space station.
Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu, and Gui Haichao emerged from their return capsule in robust health near the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on the fringes of the Gobi Desert, as reported by the official Xinhua News Agency.
Just last week, the station’s new three-person crew successfully docked with the Tiangong station. Since the station’s construction is substantially complete, the incoming crew’s primary duties will revolve around conducting medical and scientific experiments while maintaining equipment.
China’s foray into crewed space missions dates back to its inaugural venture in 2003, and the country is ambitiously targeting a lunar landing before 2030. China has made significant strides in lunar exploration, including returning lunar samples and landing a rover on the relatively uncharted far side of the moon. Furthermore, they have laid out plans for deploying a cutting-edge telescope for deep-space exploration.
China’s independent space station project came into existence after being excluded from the International Space Station, mainly due to U.S. concerns regarding Chinese military involvement in their national space program. This development has cast Beijing as the primary contender against the United States in achieving new milestones in outer space. This rivalry has led to minimal cooperation between the two nations in space exploration, as dictated by U.S. legislation. It reflects the broader contest for supremacy between the world’s largest economies in fields spanning technology, trade, military prowess, and diplomatic endeavours. Sensitive geopolitical issues, such as China’s claims to sovereignty over the South China Sea and its stance on Taiwan, have further exacerbated the competition.
Meanwhile, the United States has its sights set on returning astronauts to the lunar surface by the end of 2025 as part of a rejuvenated commitment to crewed space missions. This effort is supported by private sector entities like SpaceX and Blue Origin.
Beyond lunar ambitions, both China and the United States have separately achieved milestones in planetary exploration by landing rovers on Mars. China is also set to emulate the U.S. in landing a spacecraft on an asteroid.
