Chinese astronauts return to earth after six months in space

Chinese astronaut Tang Shengjie waves after returning to Earth (Bei He/Xinhua via AP)

AP Reporter

China’s Shenzhou-17 spacecraft has returned to Earth, carrying three astronauts who have completed a six-month mission aboard the country’s orbiting space station.

The three, Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin, landed at the Dongfeng site in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the Gobi desert shortly before 6pm local time.