Chinese spacecraft will return to Earth on June 29

The Shenzhou 9 spacecraft will leave the Thien Cung 1 module to return to Earth today after a 13-day flight.

The Shenzhou 9 and Thien Cung 1 modules separated from each other on June 28. (Photo: Xinhua)

Xinhua quoted the announcement of the Beijing Space Control Center, saying that Shenzhou 9 successfully separated from Heavenly Palace 1 on June 28 under the control of astronauts. Then the ship continues to fly away from the module to create a safe distance. Under the plan, Shenzhou 9 will land in China's Inner Mongolia region at around 10am local time.

Three astronauts on the Shenzhou 9 ship carried out a series of orbital experiments and successfully connected the ship with Thien Cung 1 by hand. The astronaut's success shows that China has fully mastered the art of connecting objects in the universe - an important technique for bringing people and goods to space stations in the future.

The Shenzhou 9 ship flew from orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China's Gansu province on June 16. The three astronauts participating in the flight were Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang, in which Liu Yang was the first Chinese woman to fly into space.