Crew returns to Earth following six months on China space station

The three astronauts stayed in orbit for 183 days

Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Wednesday after six months on China's space station.

The Shenzhou-19 mission carrying astronauts Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze undocked from the Tiangong space station on Tuesday 29 April.

The trio spent nine hours in transit back to Earth before touching down at the Dongfeng landing site in northern China.

The astronauts, who have been on the space station since October last year, have been setting records including the longest-ever spacewalk.

What did the crew get up to in space?

The astronauts set off to the space station in October

Astronauts Cai and Song spent more than nine hours outside the station during a mid-December spacewalk, which set the record.

The team are also said to have performed a total of 86 scientific experiments during their time in orbit.

One experiment included placing a brick made from lunar soil simulant on Tiagong's exterior to see how it holds up on the environment.

China says the results could help them plan out a moon base.

Who were the crew?

Wang Haoze : Wang, 35, was China's only woman spaceflight engineer at the time of the launch

Cai Xuzhe: Commander Cai, a 48-year-old former air force pilot, previously served aboard Tiangong as part of the Shenzhou-14 mission in 2022

Song Lingdong: Song accompanied commander Cai on the spacewalk that set a world record for the longest spacewalk at nine hours and six minutes