Chinese astronauts return to Earth after spending six months in space

Crew Members Of The Shenzhou XIII Mission Return To Earth — *The three taikonauts spent 183 days on the Tiangong space station.* | Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images

Three Chinese astronauts, also known as taikonauts, safely returned to Earth yesterday after spending six months aboard China’s unfinished Tiangong space station, according to a report from Space.com. This is China’s second crewed mission to Tiangong and its longest so far.

The Shenzhou 13 spacecraft landed in the Inner Mongolian desert at 9:56AM local time on Saturday morning, departing from the space station’s core Tianhe module about nine hours prior. The crew took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi desert last October and spent a total of 183 days on the space station.