神舟二十号航天员凯旋 带回近100斤“太空特产”
The three astronauts of Shenzhou-20 came back to Earth safely on Nov.14. They stayed in space for nine more days than planned. This happened because their spaceship’s windows might have been damaged by small pieces of space debris.
The return capsule of Shenzhou-21 landed at the Dongfeng landing site in Inner Mongolia at 4:40 pm. Inside were the three astronauts: Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie. The capsule also brought back about 50 kilograms of special items from space, such as samples from different experiments.
After the capsule landed, a ground team quickly checked if everything was safe. Then they opened the door and checked the astronauts’ health. The three astronauts were then helped out of the capsule. They sat in chairs and talked about their space experience during a TV interview.
Chen Dong said, “Exploring space is never easy. There are always difficulties. But that’s why we do it — to face challenges.” He added, “This mission helped us grow. We finished all our tasks. I want to thank our country and everyone who helped bring us home safely.”
Wang Jie said, “It feels good to be back under gravity. Space exploration will never stop, and I will keep working for it.”
The Shenzhou-20 team stayed in the Tiangong space station for 204 days. They did four spacewalks and finished many science tasks.