Commander Chen Dong of China's Shenzhou-20 crew made history on Friday as the first astronaut to emerge from the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft's return capsule following its successful Earth landing. The three-member team completed a six-month orbital mission, marking another milestone in China's rapidly advancing space program this year.
Footage released by the China Manned Space Agency showed Chen smiling and waving after exiting the capsule in the Gobi Desert recovery zone. The mission included critical technology verification tests for the Tiangong Space Station, which has hosted 14 astronaut crews since 2022.
This achievement comes as China accelerates its lunar exploration roadmap, with plans to establish a permanent research base on the Moon's south pole by 2030. Space program officials confirmed this week that the Shenzhou-22 crew is currently preparing for a December launch to conduct biological experiments in microgravity.
