China’s Shenzhou-19 astronauts return home after forced landing site switch

China’s three-person Shenzhou-19 crew successfully landed at a new site in the Inner Mongolia region on Wednesday, after poor weather delayed their return from the Tiangong space station.

The crew’s commander Cai Xuzhe and astronauts Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze – the country’s third female astronaut and the only female space flight engineer – were originally supposed to make their return one day earlier.

The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said on Wednesday that the return of the Shenzhou-19 crew – including the youngest Chinese astronaut so far – was delayed by strong winds at the original landing site.

The agency added that the landing would be moved to the eastern section of the Dongfeng landing site where the meteorological conditions met requirements. It marked the first time a crew would land in this area, it said.

“Faced with new situations and new challenges, the entire project team worked closely together, linked up with the ground and the sky, and quickly formulated response measures to ensure the success of the mission,” the CMSA said in a social media post.

The Shenzhou-19 crew began their six-month mission at the space station on October 29, completing tasks like compiling and sending remaining experimental data before returning to Earth, according to the CMSA.