Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng sent yesterday a congratulatory message to the Central People’s Government in Beijing about the successful return to Earth by the Shenzhou-15 crewed spacecraft, the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) said in a statement.
On behalf of the local government, Ho expressed his warmest congratulations to the country for completion of the space mission, and for the successful rotation to the country’s next space flight crew, i.e., the Shenzhou-16 spacecraft. Ho’s congratulatory message also expressed his greatest admiration for the three astronauts forming the crew of Shenzhou-15 – Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming, and Zhang Lu – as well as for the scientists and others involved in the mission.
The Shenzhou-15 spacecraft was launched on November 29, 2022, carrying the three astronauts on a mission to work and live in orbit for six months. The space mission represented the country’s first in-obit rotation of crew – from the Shenzhou-14 spacecraft to Shenzhou-15 – for the nation’s Tiangong space station.
With the support of scientific and technical personnel on the ground, the crew of Shenzhou-15 successfully conducted four extravehicular activities (EVs). The crew also carried out several payload-related out-of-cabin missions; eight projects of human factors and ergonomics engineering research; 28 aerospace-related medical experiments; and 38 space-science exercises – either in the form of tests or experiments – covering ecology, material science, and the mechanics of fluids. The crew obtained valuable data from these experiments. These achievements once again illustrate the country’s leapfrog advances in aerospace engineering, the statement quoted Ho’s letter as saying.
While in orbit, the Shenzhou-15 crew continued the educational activities of the “Tiangong Classroom” and held a “Tiangong Dialogue” with young people on the ground, helping expand the horizons of young students, and inspiring the public to explore and expand their knowledge of science.
The Shenzhou-15 spacecraft was the last mission in relation to the construction of the country’s crewed space station. It laid a sound foundation for moving the country’s space station into an application-and-development phase, and marked a new peak in the country’s aerospace-science and crewed-space project work, Ho underlined.
Ho’s congratulatory message stressed, according to the statement. that all compatriots in Macau are beyond proud – as well as encouraged – by the country’s achievements in space science. Macau compatriots will continue to fully support the development of the country's crewed space-flight industry, and make due contributions to strengthening the nation’s development into a space power.
