According to Xinhua, three astronauts of the Shenzhou-21 mission, including Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, and Zhang Hongzhang, met with the press in Beijing, marking their first public appearance since returning to Earth in May 2026.
According to information at the press conference, all three have stable physical and mental health. Muscle strength, endurance and cardiovascular fitness have basically recovered to pre-flight levels. Currently, astronauts are entering the recovery monitoring phase and will continue training after completing medical assessments.
The Shenzhou-21 crew worked on orbit for 210 days, from October 31, 2025 to May 29, 2026, setting a record for the longest orbital stay of an crew in the Chinese manned space program.
In the mission, astronauts carried out three spacewalks, conducted many scientific experiments and participated in the first emergency rescue operation on orbit in the history of China's manned space program.
Mr. Truong Luc - Commander of the delegation said that the emergency response system has effectively handled many situations, from responding to impacts with space debris to adjusting the trajectory and deploying emergency launch plans, contributing to ensuring safety for the crew.
With a total of 7 spacewalks in two missions, Shenzhou-15 and Shenzhou-21, Zhang Li is currently the astronaut with the most spacewalks in China.
Mr. Ngo Phi - Technician developing the Tianhe core module and the Wentian laboratory module of the Tiangong Space Station, said that his experience working on the ground has helped him feel confident when operating equipment in space.
Meanwhile, Truong Hong Chuong - Expert in charge of scientific load, said that the mission has achieved many new research results such as the first successful planting of cherry tomatoes and wheat using aeroponics on orbit, closing mouse breeding in space and confirming some technologies for extraterrestrial cultivation.
In addition to scientific missions, the crew also planted more than 10 types of plants such as wheat, sunflower, tomato, sweet potato and mint to study farming techniques in the space environment.
