The screen image captured at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center on November 12, 2022 shows the inside view of the core module Tianhe after China's cargo spacecraft Tianzhou 5 conducted a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the combination of the space station Tiangong. The PHOTO XINHUA China's Shenzhou XIV manned spaceship was separated from the space station combination on Sunday, and the astronauts onboard, Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe, will soon begin their journey home, according to the China Manned Space Agency.
The agency said on Saturday morning that the Shenzhou XIV astronauts handed over Friday night the control of the Tiangong station to their peers in the Shenzhou XV Major General Fei Junlong, Senior Colonel Deng Qingming and Senior Colonel Zhang Lu, who arrived on the massive orbiting outpost on Wednesday.
The Shenzhou XIV crew gave a symbolic unlocking key to the Shenzhou XV team in a ceremonial move.
On Sunday night, Chen and his crew mates will fly back aboard their Shenzhou XIV spacecraft to the Dongfeng Landing Site in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, according to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China that manages the landing site.
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The recovery workers are getting ready for the crew's return, the center said on Saturday.
The astronauts of Shenzhou XIV arrived at Tiangong on June 5, several hours after their spacecraft was launched from the Jiuquan center. One of the largest pieces of infrastructure mankind has ever deployed in the Earth's orbit is the third group of visitors to the Chinese station.
During their six-month journey, they monitored the arrival of the Wentian and Mengtian space lab modules, which completed the Tiangong's in-orbit assembly. They also conducted three spacewalks and delivered a science lecture to Chinese students.
Chen now holds the record for the longest in-orbit time of a Chinese astronaut after spending 214 days on two space missions.
The Tiangong station is currently populated with the Tianhe core module, the Wentian and Mengtian lab modules, the Shenzhou XIV and XV spacecraft and the Tianzhou 5 cargo ship.