Astronaut Wang Yaping waves to the crowd on her arrival in Beijing, April 16, 2022. Three Chinese astronauts of the Shenzhou XIII manned spaceship completed their six-month space station mission and returned safely to Earth on Saturday. PHOTO XINHUA BEIJING - The success of the Shenzhou 13 mission represents a major victory for China's plan to explore space, experts from different countries said, calling for closer international cooperation on science and technology.
Three Chinese astronauts of the Shenzhou 13 manned spaceship completed their six-month space station mission and returned safely to Earth on Saturday.
China has completed the verification of key technologies of its space station, and also sets a record for Chinese astronauts' duration in space, according to the China Manned Space Agency.
China's Shenzhou 13 mission spent six months in space, with Wang Yaping becoming the first Chinese woman to conduct a spacewalk, US space and astronomy news website Space.com reported.
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The astronauts, or taikonauts, preformed two spacewalks, conducted more than 20 different science experiments and delivered two live educational lectures in space, according to the report.
Cavince Adhere, a Kenya-based international relations scholar, pointed out that as a major developing country, China's stride in space science is an inspiration to the larger global south, as the success of the astronauts is a major win for China's space exploration program.
The return capsule of the Shenzhou 13 manned spaceship lands successfully at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, April 16, 2022. PENG YUAN XINHUA By building its own space station, China will expand its scientific reach, Adhere said, adding that China's space exploration program is also open to other developing countries.
The scholar noted that Beijing is working with African countries across a range of space exploration themes. Such exchange programs have boosted capacity for space development programs on the continent. Lameck Odada, an economist at the Namibia University of Science and Technology, noted that China's achievements in space station construction and space exploration are extraordinary and contribute to human efforts in space exploration.
Odada said that China would share its breakthroughs in scientific research and technology and continue to strengthen cooperation with other countries.
Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist and cosmologist at the Australian National University, told Xinhua that the mission is definitely a success and that it is important to move forward with a long-term space station and full operation. This mission shows that China's astronauts are capable of long-term space flight, which makes Earth's future goals and plans for the Moon and beyond exciting, Tucker said.