Shenzhou XII spacecraft headed back to Earth

The Shenzhou XII spacecraft departed China's Tiangong space station on Thursday morning, according to the China Manned Space Agency. The spacecraft, which is carrying three Chinese astronauts, is to land on Earth on Friday.

The agency said in a brief statement that the spacecraft left the station's core module at 8:56 am and started to orbit Earth on its own.

Before their departure, the astronauts — Major General Nie Haisheng, the mission commander, Major General Liu Boming and Senior Colonel Tang Hongbo — configured the space station, transmitted some experimental data back to ground control and arranged materials inside the station, the statement said.

By Thursday morning, the crew had been in space for 90 days, almost three times longer than the Shenzhou XI mission, in which their peers Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong spent 33 days in orbit.

Shenzhou XII was launched on a Long March 2F carrier rocket that blasted off on June 17 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China. The astronauts entered Tiangong later that day, becoming the first inhabitants of the station.

During the mission, the astronauts carried out two extravehicular activities, or spacewalks, using a large robotic arm and other equipment to install and adjust devices outside the station.

The three-month-long Shenzhou XII mission, the nation's seventh manned space trek, is part of the Tiangong program, which aims to complete a three-component station in low-Earth orbit before the end of 2022.

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