The Shenzhou 14 crew landed in the Gobi Desert on Saturday, December 4, leaving behind the Shenzhou 15 crew who will now operate the station.
A three-person crew recently began duties at China’s Tiangong space station, taking over from the current crew who have been there for six months and have since returned to Earth. The Shenzhou 14 crew landed in the Dongfeng area in the Gobi Desert on Saturday, December 4, leaving behind the Shenzhou 15 crew who will now operate the station.
This was the first time that six astronauts had been present on the new space station, as the Wenchang module, installed this summer, was required to provide extra crew quarters for the larger crew. Along with the recently added Mengtian module, the station now has all of the main hardware in place.
