Shenzhou XVIII lands on earth concluding six-month mission

The Shenzhou XVIII mission crew returned to Earth early on Monday morning, concluding the six-month mission onboard the Tiangong space station.

The Shenzhou XVIII spacecraft's reentry capsule, carrying the three astronauts — mission commander Senior Colonel Ye Guangfu and crew members Lieutenant Colonel Li Cong and Lieutenant Colonel Li Guangsu — touched down at 1:24 am at the Dongfeng Landing Site in the middle of the Gobi Desert in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region after flying more than nine hours on the return journey.

Following safety checks outside the capsule, ground recovery personnel from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, the homeport for all of China's manned spaceflights so far, opened the hatch of the bell-shaped vehicle and conducted a preliminary examination of the astronauts' health condition.

The astronauts then were carried out from the capsule and placed on chairs in front of the capsule and shared their experiences with a reporter from China Central Television in a live program.