China: Recovery helicopters complete assembly for upcoming return of Shenzhou-21 astronauts.

Five helicopters have arrived near the landing site of the Shenzhou-22 spaceship for the search and retrieval mission of the Shenzhou-21 astronauts. The Shenzhou-22 spaceship undocked from the space station combination at 14:44 (Beijing Time) on Friday to send the Shenzhou-21 astronauts Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang back to Earth, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). The spaceship is scheduled to return to the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region later. The five helicopters -- one for command, one for communication, one for medical supervision and rescue, and two for medical rescue -- will take care of the astronauts, while a ground team will retrieve the return capsule. Each helicopter has two crew commanders, and nearly 80 percent of the air team have carried out search and retrieval missions before, said Jiang Xuejing, the team's commander. China launched the Shenzhou-21 spaceship on Oct 31, 2025 to send the Shenzhou-21 crew to its space station for rotation with Shenzhou-20 crew. However, the Shenzhou-20 crew later found that Shenzhou-20 spaceship's return capsule viewport window suffered a suspected impact from space debris during its mission and was unfit for crew return mission. On Nov 14, 2025, the Shenzhou-20 crew returned safely aboard the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft. On Nov 25, 2025, China launched the Shenzhou-22 spaceship to provide a return vessel for the Shenzhou-21 crew. Shotlist: Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, north China - May 29, 2026: 1. Various of helicopters landing at assembly point for search, retrieval of Shenzhou-21 astronauts; 2. Various of helicopters; crew members working; 3. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Jiang Xuejing, commander (ending with shot 4): "Our most important job before the landing is to closely watch the weather. The current wind comes from the northwest, with a speed of about four to six meters per second, and visibility is about 20 kilometers, so weather conditions are favorable. After the helicopters are powered off, our maintenance personnel will conduct further checks on the aircraft and their equipment, and will refuel them. Now, all preparations are complete. We will welcome the astronauts home in the best condition and to the highest standard."; 4. Various of helicopters; crew members working. [Restrictions: No access Chinese mainland]