Shenzhou XIV crew return after 6-month mission

The three astronauts of Shenzhou XIV returned to Earth on Sunday evening after a six-month mission that completed the in-orbit assembly of the Tiangong space station.

A re-entry capsule carrying the crew — Senior Colonel Chen Dong, who was the mission commander, Senior Colonel Liu Yang and Senior Colonel Cai Xuzhe — touched down on Earth at the Dongfeng Landing Site in northwestern China's Gobi Desert at 8:09 pm after flying for nine hours in a re-entry trajectory.

Ground recovery personnel soon opened the hatch of the capsule and conducted a preliminary examination of the astronauts' condition.