BEIJING, June 26 (RIA Novosti) - A Chinese spaceship carrying three astronauts returned to Earth on Wednesday morning after spending two weeks in orbit, Xinhua news agency said.
The return capsule with the three astronauts - two male, one female, touched down at 8:07 a.m. local time at the designated area in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
The Shenzhou-10, China’s fifth manned spacecraft, took off from the Jiuquan launch center in the northwestern province of Gansu on June 11.
During their mission in space, the astronauts docked twice with the Tiangong-1 space station, which had been in orbit since September 2011.
The Shenzhou-10 is a shuttle craft able to transport astronauts and supplies to orbiting modules.
The mission is designed to test docking and astronaut support technologies, as well as capabilities for the construction of a space platform.
China’s first manned flight into space was in October 2003, aboard the Shenzhou-5.
