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[b]Shenzhou 9 separates from Tiangong-1, returning to Earth Thursday night[/b] China's fourth manned spaceflight, and the first to accomplish crewed and manual dockings, will return to Earth on Thursday (June 28) at about 10 p.m. EDT (0200 GMT June 29). Liu Wang, assisted by his crewmates Jing Haipeng and China's first woman in space Liu Yang, separated their Shenzhou 9 capsule from the Tiangong-1 module on Wednesday (June 27) at around 10 p.m. EDT (0200 GMT June 28). It was the first time a Chinese spacecraft was undocked under manual control. During their nearly 10-day stay aboard the Tiangong-1, or "Heavenly Palace," all the mission's planned medical and science experiments were completed and produced valuable data, said Chen Shanguang, chief commander of the mission's astronaut system. "[This] data will help us improve technologies for astronauts' future, long-term stays in a space station," the state-run Xinhua news service quoted Chen as saying. With Shenzhou 9's departure, the Tiangong-1 prototype space station will be returned to its previous higher orbit to wait for another visiting spacecraft. The lab module was designed to operate for two years and host six dockings. It has been in space for 272 days and was the target for four docking between the Shenzhou 8 and Shenzhou 9 missions. "Based on current conditions, the service of the Tiangong-1 can be extended," said the chief commander of the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft He Yu. "It has consumed less than one-fourth of its fuel and no back up systems have been used." If the systems were improved and its operation was under careful monitoring and control, the service could be much longer, He added. "If Tiangong-1 was in perfect shape, it could work side by side with the Tiangong-2, which will be launched in the future," he said.
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