“摘星星的妈妈”回来了！

After orbiting Earth for six months, the three crew members of China's Shenzhou XIII mission departed from the Tiangong space station and returned to the mother planet on Saturday morning, finishing the nation's longest manned spaceflight.

在围绕地球飞行六个月后，神舟十三号载人飞船搭载的三名航天员于4月16日早晨从天宫空间站返回地球，完成了国内时间最长的载人航天飞行。

Major General Zhai Zhigang, who was the mission commander, Senior Colonel Wang Yaping and Senior Colonel Ye Guangfu breathed fresh air for the first time after the half-year space journey as ground recovery personnel opened the hatch of their reentry capsule at 10:03 am.

上午10时03分，地面救援人员打开了返回舱的舱门，在长达半年的太空之旅完成后，指令长翟志刚少将、王亚平大校和叶光富大校呼吸到了第一口新鲜的空气。

The capsule touched down on Earth at the Dongfeng Landing Site in northwestern China's Gobi Desert at 9:56 am after flying nine hours in a reentry trajectory.

返回舱经过9小时的返回飞行，于上午9点56分降落在位于西北戈壁沙漠上的东风着陆点。

They were then carried out one by one by ground workers and placed onto chairs in front of the capsule.

三名航天员被地面人员一一抬出，坐上放在返回舱前的专用座椅。

"I am feeling very good. We want to report to the motherland and the people that we have successfully completed the Shenzhou XIII mission. We wish to thank President Xi for his care and attention. We thank all the Chinese people for their support and encouragement. Our gratitude also goes to all of those involved in our mission who accompanied us day and night," Zhai, the mission commander, told China Central Television in a live program on the State broadcaster.

指令长翟志刚在国家广播电台的直播节目中说道：“感觉非常良好，向祖国和人民报告！我们圆满完成任务，现在已返回地面。感谢习主席对我们的关心关爱，感谢全国人民对我们的支持和鼓励，感谢工程全线人员日夜陪护和相伴。”

"It is the power and strength of our country that built the high-flying space station. I am proud of my great motherland," he said.

他说，“这是我们国家强大，才为我们搭建了这么高的工作平台。我为我们伟大的祖国感到骄傲。”

Wang, the first Chinese woman to live in the Tiangong station and also the first female Chinese spacewalker, told the State broadcaster that she is very happy to return to the motherland and wants to tell her little daughter that "mom has returned after reaching for the stars".

作为中国首位进驻空间站的女航天员，同时也是中国女性太空行走第一人，王亚平表示，回到祖国怀抱真的很开心，想告诉她的女儿，“摘星星的妈妈回来了”。

Carrying the mission crew, the Shenzhou XIII spacecraft undocked from the Tiangong station at 12:44 am on Saturday.

周六（16日）凌晨12时44分，神舟十三号载人飞船与空间站天和核心舱成功分离。

In the last hours of their stay inside the Tiangong, the astronauts worked with ground controllers to configure the station, transmit some experimental data back to Earth and sort out materials, according to the agency.

在天宫空间站停留的最后几个小时，航天员与地面控制人员一起对空间站进行状态设置，将一些实验数据传回地球并进行资料整理。

Zhai and his crewmates spent 183 days in an orbit about 400 kilometers above the Earth since their Shenzhou XIII spacecraft was launched on Oct 16 by a Long March 2F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. They were the second inhabitants of China's permanent space station named Tiangong, also known as Heavenly Palace.

自2021年10月16日长征二号F运载火箭在内蒙古自治区酒泉卫星发射中心发射神舟十三号飞船以来，翟志刚等三名航天员已经距离地球400公里的轨道上度过了183天，成为入住中国空间站天宫的第二批航天员。

The crew has set a new record for China's longest spaceflight, almost doubling the previous record of 92 days created by their peers in the Shenzhou XII mission who travelled with Tiangong from mid-June to mid-September last year.

三名航天员创造了中国航天员连续在轨飞行时间的最长纪录，几乎是神州十二号92天飞行纪录的两倍。

During the Shenzhou XIII mission, the astronauts carried out two spacewalks that totaled more than 12 hours. They mounted components on the station's robotic arm and used it to practice extravehicular maneuvers, verified the arm's capabilities and its compatibility with the crew's needs, examined the safety and performance of support devices for extravehicular activity and also tested the functions of their extravehicular suits.

神舟十三号任务期间，航天员进行了两次太空行走，总时长超过12小时。航天员在空间站的机械臂上安装了组件，利用机械臂操作空间站舱段转位的可行性和有效性，验证了机械臂大负载操控技术及其与机组人员需求的兼容性，检查出舱活动支持装置的安全性和性能，并测试出舱服的功能。

Wang took part in the first spacewalk on Nov 7, becoming the first female Chinese spacewalker.

王亚平于2021年11月7日首次进行太空行走，成为中国女性太空行走第一人。

The crew members also carried out two science lectures for Chinese students. In those lectures, which were livestreamed worldwide by China Media Group, the astronauts showed viewers how they live and work inside the gigantic space station and showed physical phenomena only possible in microgravity such as "disappearing buoyancy" and a "water ball".

乘组还为中国学生进行了两次“太空授课”。在中央广播电视总台为全球直播的讲座中，乘组向观众展示了他们在巨大的空间站内的生活和工作，并展示了浮力消失实验、水球光学实验等只有在微重力下才有可能出现的物理现象。

In one experiment, Wang used a Bing Dwen Dwen toy, the popular mascot of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, to display how objects fly in weightless environment.

在其中一项实验中，王亚平通过北京2022年冬奥会吉祥物冰墩墩演示了物体在失重环境下的飞行轨迹。

The Shenzhou XIII's space-based lessons marked the start of the Tiangong Class series, China's first extraterrestrial lecture series that aims to popularize space science and inspire youngsters to pursue their "science and space dreams", according to the manned space agency.

中国载人航天工程办公室称，神舟十三号的“太空授课”标志着“天宫课堂”开始，它将成为中国首个太空科普系列，并激励年轻人追求他们的“科学和太空梦想”。

The classes were also special to Wang as it was her who carried out the nation's first space-based lecture inside an experimental space station module to more than 60 million Chinese students during the Shenzhou X mission in June 2013. That lecture made China the second country, following the United States, to have delivered a lesson to schoolchildren from space.

“天宫课堂”对王亚平也具有特殊意义。2013年6月神舟十号飞行任务期间，正是她在实验空间站舱内为超过6000万中国学生成功进行中国首次太空授课，使中国成为继美国之后第二个完成太空授课的国家。

In early February, the astronauts spent Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, inside the orbiting station, becoming the first Chinese people to celebrate the country's most important traditional festival in outer space. They appeared in a live broadcast gala and sent their best wishes to Chinese people.

今年2月初，乘组在空间站度过了中国的农历春节，成为第一个在太空过年的乘组，他们现身春晚直播现场，向中国人民送上最美好的祝福。

Several days before their return, Zhai and his crewmates recorded a video in which they answered questions solicited from students across the United States who were curious about their life and tasks.

在返回前几天，翟志刚等三人录制了一段视频，与多名美国孩子进行视频通话，回答了美国孩子对空间站生活和工作的好奇问题。

Before the end of 2022, China will send six astronauts in the Shenzhou XIV and XV missions with two space lab components as well as two robotic cargo spaceships to dock with Tiangong, completing the massive orbiting outpost, the largest space-based infrastructure the nation has ever built.

2022年底前，中国将派出六名航天员参与神舟十四号、十五号任务，搭载两个空间实验室部件和两个大型太空实验室，与核心舱对接，完成天宫空间站的建造。

Upon its completion, Tiangong will be manned regularly by groups of three astronauts in periods lasting several months. During handovers to new three-astronaut groups, the station will accommodate up to six astronauts.

天宫建成后，将由三名宇航员组成的乘组定期在轨飞行数月。在向新的三名宇航员小组移交期间，该站最多可容纳六名宇航员。

英语新闻丨“摘星星的妈妈”回来了！ 05:49 Share

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英语新闻丨“摘星星的妈妈”回来了！