Two great astronauts return from China’s longest-ever space mission

Two Chinese astronauts have successfully returned to the Earth from China’s longest manned space mission to date.

China’s Shenzhou 11 space capsule landed in the northern region of Inner Mongolia on Friday, after detaching from the Tiangong 2 space laboratory and heading home Thursday.

“The Tiangong 2 and Shenzhou 11 flight duties were a complete success,” space mission chief commander Zhang Youxia said.

The astronauts, Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong, have lived and worked 30 days aboard the Tiangong 2 lab, which is being used by Beijing to carry out experiments ahead of a longer-range plan to have a permanent manned space station around 2022.

Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng (L) and Chen Dong salute during the send-off ceremony of the Shenzhou-11 manned space mission in October. (Photo by AFP)

The two still remain inside the capsule for medical examination, but, Zhang, are in good condition.

In another manned space mission in 2013, three Chinese astronauts spent 15 days in orbit and docked with a space laboratory, the Tiangong 1.

The Tiangong-2, which was launched on September 15, is a key part of China’s space program with the eventual aim of launching a permanent 20-ton space station into orbit.

Beijing is planning to launch its permanent station before 2024, when the International Space Station (ISS) is retired, according to Xinhua.

Meanwhile, the Russian Soyuz spacecraft lifted off from a Russian-leased launch facility in Kazakhstan on Friday to carry three astronauts — from the United States, Russia and France — for a six-month mission on the ISS station.

The spacecraft is expected to dock at the station on Saturday evening, when the three will join an American and two Russians already aboard.

The crew members will conduct more than 250 science investigations in fields such as biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development, until May 2017.

The spacecraft is carrying NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson — the oldest woman on space —French Thomas Pesquet and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy.