Yesterday, June 25, Shenzhou 10 returned it's crew of three taikonauts to Earth safely, lowering space's human population back to 6, from 9.
This mission was a success according to the PRC (People's Republic of China) government, and during it the three taikonauts spent 15 days in orbit, conducting experiments within the Chinese space station Tiangong 1, and practising various docking procedures with it.
The mission was the longest ever flown by the Chinese space program, and was the second of two planed missions to Tiangong 1.
Tiangong 1 is not a large or longterm space station, indeed, it's weight, at 18,000 lbs, is less than half of that of the first Salyut station put into orbit by the USSR. Instead, it is a testing ground for the technologies that will be needed for future planned space stations.
Tiangong 2 was planned to launch in 2013, though recent estimates place it closer to 2015, and it will weigh 44,000 lbs, this will be followed by Tiangong 3, originally planned for 2015, and then by the Chinese modular space station, which has been floated with a 2020 launch date.
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