Category Archives: Space Station

It may sound like a prolonged spa break but when 20 women tuck themselves into a waterbed in the south of France for five days this week, it will be under the guise of a scientific study into the impact of space flight on the female body.

The experiment, by the European Space Agency, will simulate the impact of microgravity on the musculoskeletal system, immune and cardiovascular health and hormone levels. With an increasing number of female astronauts participating in long-duration missions the immersion study is aimed at addressing a gender gap where the vast majority of space medicine research has been carried out on men.

There is almost no knowledge about the physiological and psychological effects on women in this research area, said Angelique Van Ombergen, the Esa scientist leading the experiment at the Medes space clinic in Toulouse. We really hope that this study could help address some of the knowledge gaps of how people react to this extreme environment.

The weightlessness experienced by astronauts can have striking effects on the body in a short space of time. Without gravity to load the spine, water and other molecules are able to move into the discs between vertebrae, meaning that astronauts tend to become taller in space but also weaker as supporting muscles and ligaments are doing less work.

The absence of gravity also leads to fluids shifting towards the head, which has been linked to hearing and vision problems. Previous studies have found the immune system can go quiet in the sterile environment of a spaceship, which can lead to a reactivation of old viruses. Many of these effects are likely to vary significantly between men and women.

Women seem less susceptible to vision impairment than men, related to headward fluid shifts, but women are more susceptible to fainting when they come back to Earth, said Prof Alan Hargens, who researches the impact of microgravity on the human body at Surgery University of California San Diego.

Until now, though, there has been a dearth of data making it difficult to tailor exercise programmes during missions and rehabilitation on return to Earth for female astronauts.

In the latest study, the volunteers will first be swathed in a cotton sheet and then a waterproof tarp, before being suspended in an immersion tank with only their arms and head left outside. The volunteers will remain in their tank for five days in a monotonous environment, only coming out for brief hygiene breaks to shower and go to the toilet, while remaining in a horizontal position to minimise fluid shifts in the body. The scientists will collect blood and urine samples, while making continuous measurements to see how the body is adapting.

Based on previous dry immersion experiments a Russian cohort spent 21 days in a similar setup Van Ombergen said the experience was likely to be quite challenging for the volunteers, rather than relaxing. It requires dedication from the volunteers to stick to it, she said.

The proportion of female astronauts has slowly increased over the past decade, with the first all-female spacewalk in 2019, Nasa having announced its goal to put the first woman on the moon and China expected to include a female astronaut on next months mission to its new Tiangong space station.

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Immersion tank study will explore impact of space travel on the female body - The Guardian

ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 23 (UPI) -- The chair of NASA's independent safety panel blasted Congress on Thursday for not designating a federal agency to spearhead space traffic management.

Chairwoman Patricia Sanders, a former Department of Defense senior executive, said NASA's Safety and Advisory Panel has called on Congress to increase oversight of growing space traffic for years, but to no avail.

"We noted during this week that SpaceX is seeking to launch an additional 30,000 Starlink satellites," Sanders said in a quarterly, virtual meeting of the panel held online Thursday afternoon.

"We have no position on the advisability of that action, but it does underscore our persistent concern with the lack of a formally designated and resourced lead agency for space traffic management."

U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., chairman of the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, said late Thursday that he and others in Congress are working on the issue.

"They're right that this has to be done quickly because we're going to see a lot more traffic soon," Beyer told UPI. "We are scheduled take this up in October, and the hope is that we will have a bill by the end of the year."

Space traffic has grown with more frequent launches in the past few years, but the government's regulation of such traffic has been slow to change.

The Federal Aviation Administration oversees licensing and regulation for space launches, while the Federal Communications Commission issues permits for communication satellite networks like SpaceX's Starlink.

The FAA falls under the Department of Transportation, while Congress oversees the FCC directly.

Elon Musk's SpaceX has launched more than 1,600 Starlink broadband satellites and plans to offer regular, global commercial service in October after over a year in testing mode.

British firm OneWeb has about 300 communications satellites in orbit, while Amazon's Kuiper Project also plans to launch thousands of satellites.

Sanders and other observers have said that potential problems include satellite collisions and launch delays if spacecraft are traveling through a launch corridor.

SpaceX has included automatic collision avoidance features, but Sanders and others are not convinced that's enough to address all possible risks.

"This continues to be a critical safety concern, a growing safety concern, that remains unaddressed by the Congress, and it's well overdue to be acted on," Sanders said.

Former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine testified at length before a Senate subcommittee last year regarding risks of growing space debris, which has come from a variety of space missions by many nations over the past several decades.

For example, the European Space Agency said in 2019 it moved one of its Earth science satellites to avoid a potential collision with a Starlink satellite, after attempts to communicate with SpaceX failed.

Orbiting debris also poses a problem for space traffic. The space station has fired thrusters many times in recent years to avoid the path of known space debris.

NASA and the Canadian Space Agency discovered in May a small hole from a tiny debris strike on the covering of the space station's robotic Canadarm2. The structure is used to maneuver components and science experiments outside the orbiting laboratory.

Sanders said she and the panel have communicated about the issue regularly with the House and Senate space-related committees, but no formal action or legislation has emerged.

Support teams work around the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft shortly after it landed with NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker and Victor Glover and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi aboard in the Gulf of Mexico off Panama City, Fla., on Sunday. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA | License Photo

From left to right, Walker, Glover, Hopkins and Noguchi are seen inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship shortly after their splashdown in the Gulf. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA | License Photo

Hopkins is helped out of the Resilience spacecraft onboard the recovery ship after splashdown. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA | License Photo

NASA employees watch a dolphin swim along with the recovery ship as NASA and SpaceX teams prepare for splashdown in the Gulf. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA | License Photo

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Crew-1 lifts off from Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 15. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo

The four astronauts traveled 71,242,199 statute miles during their 168 days in orbit, including 167 days aboard the space station. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo

The Crew Dragon spacecraft heads for the International Space Station, a 27 1/2-hour journey. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo

From left to right, Walker, Glover, Hopkins and Noguchi wear SpaceX spacesuits wave as they walk out of the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building to depart for launch Photo by Joel Kowsky/NASA | License Photo

Noguchi engages with the crowd as he prepares to depart. Photo by Joel Kowsky/NASA | License Photo

From left to right, Walker, Hopkins and Noguchi prepare to depart for the launch pad. Photo by Joel Kowsky/NASA | License Photo

The astronauts wave before they ride to Complex 39A to board the Dragon spacecraft as the first operational crew to be launched on SpaceX equipment to the ISS. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine makes comments during a press conference at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 13. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo

An alligator starts to cross a road while photographers set up remote cameras as a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is being prepared to launch the first operational Crew Dragon spacecraft on November 13. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft atop is seen on the pad at Launch Complex 39A after being rolled out overnight as preparations continue for the Crew-1 mission on November 10. Photo by Joel Kowsky/NASA | License Photo

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is seen as it is rolled out of the horizontal integration facility at Launch Complex 39A on November 9. Photo by Joel Kowsky/NASA | License Photo

Noguchi speaks to members of the media after arriving from Houston at the Launch and Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on November 8 ahead of SpaceX's Crew-1 mission. Photo by Joel Kowsky/NASA | License Photo

The astronauts are seen after arriving at the Launch and Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center ahead of SpaceX's Crew-1 mission. Photo by Joel Kowsky/NASA | License Photo

The astronauts participate in crew equipment interface testing at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., on September 24. Photo courtesy of SpaceX | License Photo

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NASA adviser blasts lack of congressional action on space traffic dangers - UPI News

BEIJING (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th September, 2021) The Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft, which docked with the Chinese orbital station on September 20, brought not only food, equipment and water for the future crew, but also New Year's gifts and cosmetics for female astronauts, assistant to the chief engineer of the spacecraft Fang Fang said.

The launch of the Long March-7 carrier rocket with the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft took place on Monday at 15:10 local time (10:10 GMT) at the Wenchang Space Launch Site in China, and seven hours later the cargo spacecraft successfully docked with the core module of the Tiangong space station. While there is no one at the station yet, the Shenzhou 12 crew spent three months at the station and returned to earth on September 17, and the Shenzhou 13 crew will leave for Tiangong in early October.

Tianzhou-3 is to provide cargo for the Shenzhou 13 crew, which will be staying at the space station for six months. The Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft, with a total length of 10.6 meters (35 feet) and a maximum diameter of 3.35 meters, has the same structure as the Tianzhou-1 and Tianzhou-2, but its interior is significantly optimized as it had to deliver much more cargo to the station to ensure the life of the astronauts than its predecessor, Fang told Central China Television.

The previous crew stayed at the station for 90 days, while the next one must spend at least 180 days there, so that the food, water and basic necessities are three times that of Tianzhou-2. Among other things, the cargo included clothing, hygiene products and cosmetics for women. The cargo spacecraft also brought gifts and supplies for the Chinese New Year, which falls on February 1, 2022, the assistant to the chief engineer said.

The composition of the crew has not yet been officially announced, but the Chinese media report that in October the experienced Zhai Zhigang will leave for the station, who in September 2008 became the first Chinese to be sent to the open space. The crew is also expected to have female cosmonaut Wang Yaping, a member of the crew of the Shenzhou-10 spacecraft, whose mission took place in the fall of 2013. Ye Guangfu is also expected to go to space for the the first time in his career. All three were on the Shenzhou 12 backup crew.

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Tianzhou-3 Freighter Brought New Year Gifts to Chinese Space Station - Engineer - UrduPoint News

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.Before liftoff, the moon was the brightest object in the sky, followed by the tiny, shining pinpricks of Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn. Then the rocket rose with a roar, a white-hot needle casting the dark evening in a soft gold. A crew of four sat atop it, strapped inside a small capsule. And none of themnot onewere professional astronauts.

The passengers who launched today are SpaceXs first-ever private crew. They are Sian Proctor, a geoscience professor and artist; Hayley Arceneaux, a physician assistant and childhood cancer survivor; Chris Sembroski, a data engineer and Iraq War veteran; and Jared Isaacman, the tech businessman who paid for all their seats. Not long ago, they were strangers. Now they are travel buddies andin the case of Proctor, Arceneaux, and Sembroskithe beneficiaries of a billionaire with the means to make them all spacefarers.

The tourism era of American spaceflight is really, truly here. Yes, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson flew to space this summer to inaugurate their space-tourism businesses and show off their high-flying services to their future customers, who will enrich the men even further. But their trips dont compare to what the Inspiration4 crew has signed up for.

The space billionaires made quick suborbital jaunts to the edge of space to experience just a few minutes of weightlessness before falling back down. Isaacman, Proctor, Arceneaux, and Sembroski flew well beyond that boundary today, traveling at screaming speeds so they could not only reach orbit, but stay there for three days, looping around Earth as a satellite or a space station would. In fact, the Dragon capsule will orbit the planet about 100 miles higher than the International Space Station does.

And from way up there, coming home is not a matter of simply coasting back to Earth. When its time for the Inspiration4 crew to return, the Dragon capsule will experience scorching temperatures as it hurtles through the atmosphere. The vehicle, roasted like a marshmallow during reentry, will then splash down at sea.

Read: Americas new vision of astronauts

This Inspiration4 mission is the first of its kind. Non-professional astronauts have flown into orbit beforeultra-wealthy private citizens have paid their way onto the ISS, and NASAs current administrator flew on the space-shuttle mission when he was a U.S. representative in the 1980s. But these passengers flew on government-operated machines, accompanied by government-employed astronauts, and the government decided where they were going. Now, if you have enough money, you can charter your own private spaceflight, and even customize it to your liking.

The Inspiration4 astronauts are flying on their own, without a SpaceX professional on board, and Elon Musk, SpaceXs founder, seems to have determined that theyll do just fine. Unlike the NASA space shuttles that once took astronauts to orbit, the Dragon capsule can fly itself from launch to landing. Last year, when two NASA astronauts test-drove the vehicle for the first time, they took it off autopilot for a few minutes just to see how it handled, but the flight software did the rest for them.

The Inspiration4 crew seems to think theyll do just fine too. They arrived here at Kennedy Space Center last week in fighter jets, just like professional astronauts before them, looking the part in their black flight suits adorned with mission patches. The Inspiration4 crew did receive about six months of training to learn the ins and outs of their spaceship, far less than the typical NASA astronaut but considerably more than future Blue Origin or Virgin Galactic passengers. And as they flew over Floridas Space Coast, they changed something fundamental about it. The area around Kennedy has been a tourist destination for decades, its beaches and palm-tree-lined streets filling up with spectators craning their heads to catch a glimpse of a rising rocket from afar. Now its a tourist destination of another kind. With enough money and a bit of luck, you can get on the launchpad yourself.

Musk, with his dreams of sending humans to Mars soon, would tell you that this kind of future is long overdue. But for nearly everyone else in the space industry, this moment arrived quicker than they imagined. Just a decade ago, the idea that SpaceX could fly people into space seemed far-fetched, especially at NASA, where agency officials felt they knew how to do spaceflight better than anyone, Phil McAlister, NASAs director of commercial spaceflight development, said last year. Now SpaceX isnt just doing spaceflight as well as NASA did; its doing things NASA never attempted.

When the American space-shuttle program ended in 2011 because of cost and safety concerns, NASA needed a new, different form of transportation for its astronauts. The agency had always relied on private contractors to build, but this time, the developmentfrom the complex propulsion systems to the cabins toiletwas entirely in SpaceXs hands. In the spring of last year, SpaceX safely flew two astronauts to the International Space Station and back, while NASA watched over its shoulder. The company has flown two more crews since. Today, SpaceX provides the only transportation into orbit from American soil.

Read: Thanks for flying SpaceX

SpaceX will continue to fly professional astronauts on NASAs behalf. But interspersed between these formal astronaut work assignments will be flashy trips for private citizens who want an adrenaline rush. NASAs involvement is confined to the historic launchpad where Apollo missions left for the moon, which it now leases to SpaceX. With SpaceX, space travel is a real customer experience.

You can see it in the Dragons interiorthe minimalist design, all clean lines, with touch-screen displays and cushy fabrics. In the spacesuits, with their sleek black-and-white look, and in the shiny Teslas that bring astronauts to the launchpad. In the big, bubble-shaped glass window that SpaceX has installed especially for this mission, so that its passengers can enjoy panoramic views of Earth sparkling below and the countless stars twinkling beyond. Professional astronauts dont need it, because theyre not there just for the views, but paying customers do.

The customer experience extends all the way into orbit. Theres the autonomous flight software, a feature private citizens will expect to take care of the ride. (McAlister, the NASA official, once told me that relinquishing control to the flight software was the hardest thing that the two NASA astronauts had to do during SpaceXs test flight last year.) Theres the menu: Proctor asked SpaceX to supply cold pizza for the crews first meal. And theres the flight plan: Musk let Isaacman, a licensed pilot with experience flying fighter jets, decide how many days the crew would spend in space, and even the altitude the capsule would reach. Isaacman decided how to fill out the crew, and he went about it in unusual ways, including a Super Bowl commercial advertising a raffle for one of the seats.

Isaacman has said that although he could have invited a bunch of my pilot buddies to space, he knew that the lineup for such a historic mission would carry meaning. But someday, private crews will look more like the most privileged classes. SpaceX has already agreed to fly Tom Cruise to the space station to shoot a movie. The main requirement for SpaceX passengers, Musk has said, is the capacity to handle an intense roller-coaster ride.

Read: The outdated language of space travel

As private spaceflight expands, the traditional picture of astronautsembedded in the American consciousness as nearly mythical figures with the right stuffwill change. Astronaut could become a synonym for wealthy, and spaceflight for luxury. The infrastructure of spaceflight will likely shift to accommodate them; perhaps in the future, the room where passengers suit up will have a snack table, and maybe some cucumber water toospecial details befitting of an already extraordinary service. When John Glenn orbited the Earth, he did it for America. Future space tourists will be doing it for fun.

Although the aesthetics of spaceflight may change, the physics of it wont. Space travel is just as dangerous when regular people fly as when NASA astronauts do it. When NASA tried to take a non-professional astronaut to space in 1986Christa McAuliffe, a high-school teacherthe attempt ended in tragedy. SpaceX is even taking an extra risk with this flight, and, in a sign of the changing times, the decision was made at the customers request. The crew asked SpaceX to take the capsule to an unusually high altitude of 360 miles. The Dragon has never flown this high, and the crew will experience greater exposure to cosmic radiation than astronauts on the space station. Isaacman said this week that the crew wanted to get a little outside of our comfort zone, to fly beyond the ISS. Yes, it adds risk, he said, but he feels confident that SpaceX can pull it off.

And SpaceX is determined to avoid a horrible outcome. Over the years, employees, including senior leadership, have received briefings about the aftermath of the two space-shuttle disasters, which together killed 14 astronauts, and the launchpad fire during the Apollo program that killed three. Theyve met with NASA employees who lived through the tragedies, and listened as they told SpaceX about the mistakes the agency made and how to do better. When SpaceX was preparing for its first crewed flight last year, technicians work orders bore pictures of Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, the NASA astronauts assigned to the mission.

Read: SpaceXs riskiest business

When I asked Arceneaux this week about the moment she decided that she was willing to put her life in SpaceXs hands, she told me about her third visit to the companys headquarters in California, early on in her training. Arceneaux and her mom sat in on a long meeting with SpaceXs lead engineers, who went over every detail of her mission. At the end of the day, we looked at each other and said, We trust them, Arceneaux told me.

Future private astronauts will have to make the same determination for themselves. They must feel confident not only that SpaceX will give them a glorious once-in-a-lifetime experience, but that also the company will keep them alive. The Dragon capsule is less complicated than the space shuttles were, and the system has an abort option that the NASA spacecraft didnt; in the case of an emergency right after liftoff, Dragon can push itself away from the Falcon 9 rocket and toward safety.

But ask anyone who worked at NASA during the shuttle years, or the astronauts who flew on those vehicles: Spaceflight is risky, and a fatal disaster is a matter of not if, but when. No amount of money can protect you from that. SpaceX passengers, as well as the family and friends they leave behind on Earth, must believe in SpaceX through it allthe teeth-rattling launch, the careful maneuvering through space, the perilous journey down. Theyll need to trust SpaceX in those wonderful, wide-awake moments, when the view of Earth from the cupola leaves them speechless. Even more important, theyll need to feel that trust in the quiet, vulnerable times too, as they change into pajamas and doze off in their sleeping bags, tethered to their seats so they dont knock into one another, as the capsule steers itself through space.

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SpaceX's Inspiration4 Crew Has Reached Orbit - The Atlantic

China has launched a cargo mission to its new space station, just days after astronauts departed the orbiting outpost.

A Long March 7 rocket topped with the robotic Tianzhou 3 freighter lifted off from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in southern China's Hainan Province today (Sept. 20). Liftoff occurred at 3:10 p.m. local time.

Tianzhou 3 is headed for Tianhe ("Harmony of the Heavens"), the core module of China's new Tiangong space station. Three astronauts recently departed the 54-foot-long (16.6 meters) Tianhe after a three-month stay, landing safely in Inner Mongolia early Friday (Sept. 17) to wrap up their Shenzhou 12 mission.

Related: The latest news about China's space program

The 35-foot-long (10.6 m) Tianzhou 3 is loaded with thousands of pounds of supplies, scientific equipment and propellant that will help get Tianhe ready for its next astronaut crew, which will arrive soon. The three-astronaut Shenzhou 13 mission is expected to launch toward the core module in mid-October. (Firm target dates are hard to come by, because China tends not to announce many details of its spaceflight plans in advance.)

Tianhe is the heart of a three-element space station called Tiangong ("Heavenly Palace"), which China aims to finish building in 2022. It will take a total of 11 launches to fully assemble and equip Tiangong, which will be about 20% as massive as the International Space Station (ISS), Chinese space officials have said. (China is not a partner on the ISS, which has been hosting rotating astronaut crews continuously since November 2000.)

Tianzhou 3 will be the fourth of those 11 launches. Tianhe was the first, lifting off on April 28. Tianzhou 2 launched to Tianhe a month later and remains attached to the core module. Shenzhou 12 took flight on June 16.

In case you were wondering, the first Tianzhou vehicle launched to the prototype Tiangong-2 space lab in April 2017. The cargo craft performed a series of refueling and rendezvous maneuvers before being deorbited in September of that year. Tiangong-2 was steered to a fiery death over the Pacific Ocean in July 2019.

Tianzhou translates as "Heavenly Vessel." Shenzhou continues the cosmic naming theme, translating as "Divine Vessel."

Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

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China launches Tianzhou 3 cargo ship to new space station - Space.com

Posted: Sep 17, 2021 / 01:25 AM EDT / Updated: Sep 19, 2021 / 09:20 PM EDT

There were two awesome flyovers of the International Space Station this past weekend (Sept. 18-19). Fortunately, skies were clear on Saturday and mostly clear on Sunday. There was still a little twilight Sunday evening. There are flyovers Monday evening (itll be cloudy in G.R.) and Tuesday (itll probably be cloudy).

Tuesday evenings flyover is at 8:19 pm. If by some chance you do get a break in the clouds, look to the west and the ISS will move to a maximum height of 45 degrees above the horizon. Again the Space Station will continue to the northeast and disappear before reaching the horizon.

Heres a list of ISS flyovers through 9/24 for Grand Rapids. You can see where the Space Station is now here. The Space Station is 356 feet long (a football field is 300 feet long) and it orbits the earth every 90 minutes going thru 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets each 24 hour day. Heres more facts about the Space Station.

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Weekend Flyovers of the International Space Station - WOODTV.com

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Space Station Flyover Tuesday evening - FOX Carolina

A Flathead Valley pastor will broadcast a live interview this Sunday with an astronaut on the International Space Station.

Fresh Life Church pastor Levi Lusko will talk with Shane Kimbrough, who is on a six-month tour in space.

The interview will be seen at 12 Fresh Life campuses, online atfreshlife.churchat 9 and 11 a.m., and 5 p.m.,and other Fresh Life social media sites.In the Flathead Valley, Fresh Life has campus locations in Kalispell, Whitefish and Polson.

Kimbrough is a West Point graduate and is a veteran of three previous spaceflights, the first being a Space Shuttle flight, and the second being a six-month mission to the ISS onboard a Russian Soyuz craft. He was also the commander of theInternational Space StationforExpedition 50.

Lusko will interview the astronaut as part of theFresh Life thirty-five days of hope series, Look Up.

Life is hard and crazy and full of pressure just like space where there are a thousand things that can go wrongand there is much to learn that can be transferred to life on earth. An astronaut is a perfect person to speak to life on this planet. Lusko says.

The international space station is a floating lab that has been continuously occupied by American astronauts for 20 years.

Shane reports that he is able to watch Fresh Life teachings each week from space.

Joining the nearly thirty-minute conversation will be Kimbroughs wife Robbie from earth.

The interview from space comes in a week where there is heightened interest in space with private companies such as Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, and SpaceX all joining NASA in space ventures.

Lusko concluded, "We are so honored to know Shane and grateful he is able to watch Fresh Life from space."

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Local pastor to talk with astronaut on space station - Daily Inter Lake

The Associated PressSep 20, 2021 11:51:31 IST

A trio of Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Friday after a 90-day stay aboard their nations first space station in Chinas longest mission yet.

Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo landed in the Shenzhou-12 spaceship just after 1:30 p.m. (0530 GMT) after having undocked from the space station Thursday morning.

State broadcaster CCTV showed footage of the spacecraft parachuting to land in the Gobi Desert where it was met by helicopters and off-road vehicles. Minutes later, a crew of technicians began opening the hatch of the capsule, which appeared undamaged.

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese astronauts from left, Tang Hongbo, Nie Haisheng and Liu Boming wave at the Dongfeng landing site in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. Image credit: Ju Zhenhua/Xinhua via

The three astronauts emerged about 30 minutes later and were seated in reclining chairs just outside the capsule to allow them time to readjust to Earths gravity after three months of living in a weightless environment. The three were due to fly to Beijing on Friday.

With Chinas growing strength and the rising level of Chinese technology, I firmly believe there will even more astronauts who will set new records, mission commander Nie told CCTV.

After launching on 17 June, the three astronauts went on two spacewalks, deployed a 10-meter mechanical arm, and had a video call with Communist Party leader Xi Jinping.

While few details have been made public by Chinas military, which runs the space program, astronaut trios are expected to be brought on 90-day missions to the station over the next two years to make it fully functional.

The government has not announced the names of the next set of astronauts nor the launch date of Shenzhou-13.

China has sent 14 astronauts into space since 2003, when it became only the third country after the former Soviet Union and the United States to do so on its own.

Chinas space program has advanced at a measured pace and has largely avoided many of the problems that marked the US and Russian programs that were locked in intense competition during the heady early days of spaceflight.

That has made it a source of enormous national pride, complementing the countrys rise to economic, technological, military and diplomatic prominence in recent years under the firm rule of the Communist Party and current leader Xi Jinping.

China embarked on its own space station program in the 1990s after being excluded from the International Space Station, largely due to US objections to the Chinese space programs secrecy and military backing.

China has simultaneously pushed ahead with uncrewed missions, placing a rover on the little-explored far side of the Moon and, in December, the Change 5 probe returned lunar rocks to Earth for the first time since the 1970s.

China this year also landed its Tianwen-1 space probe on Mars, with its accompanying Zhurong rover venturing out to look for evidence of life.

Another program calls for collecting samples from an asteroid, an area in which Japans rival space program has made progress of late.

China also plans to dispatch another mission in 2024 to bring back lunar samples and is pursuing a possible crewed mission to the moon and eventually building a scientific base there, although no timeline has been proposed for such projects. A highly secretive space plane is also reportedly under development.

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Three Chinese astronauts return to Earth after spending 90 days aboard new space station - Firstpost

Thomas Pesquet's photograph of the Earth will wow you.

If the state of the planet is getting you down or you're just terrified that ducks can now speak human words, then I advise you to stop what you're doing for a few moments and gaze in awe at this photo by Thomas Pesquet, a French astronaut currently residing inside the International Space Station.

Pesquet, an engineer with the European Space Agency, is one of the members of the SpaceX Crew-2 mission and member of NASA's Expedition 65, which launched to the station in April. It's his second spaceflight and he's become known around these parts for delivering some absolutely surreal images of our home planet.

This may be his best yet.

Snapped from the cupola of the ISS, Pesquet's view of the Earth sees city lights "battle it out" with the light from distant stars. The orange band around the Earth is, according to astronomer Juan Carlos Munoz, the emission of sodium atoms, approximately 90 kilometers above Earth's surface.

There's also a faint green band just beyond it if you squint hard enough -- that's created by oxygen atoms being excited.

It's not easy to get such a photo and Pesquet notes he's missed his share of shots.

"Not only do you as a photographer have to stay extremely still holding the camera, but also the Space Station moves so fast that there will be some motion anyway," Pesquet explains in his photo caption. The ISS is travelling at over 17,000 miles an hour and completes an orbit over the Earth every 90 minutes or so.

It's a busy time up on the station, with the third SpaceX Crew-3 mission expected to launch on Halloween and begin ISS Expedition 66. Pesquet will take over as the commander in late October when the four-person crew on the Crew-3 mission join the station. Expedition 66 is also notable because it will include two Russian civilians, film director Klim Shipenko and actress Yulia Peresild, who will launch on a Soyuz rocket on Oct. 5 to film scenes for a movie called The Challenge. Not quite Tom Cruise, we know, but he's heading up there sometime soon, too.

If you're after more holy moly moments, you should visit Pesquet's Flickr account, which includes an assortment of space stunners.

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Space station astronaut captures breathtaking view of the edge of the Earth - CNET