Mysterious objects left behind in space: Chinese space ship lands in Gobi Desert

A Chinese unmanned spacecraft is back on Earth after a 268-day mission. As the portal Gizmodo reports, the space shuttle named Shenlong landed in the Gobi Desert in the south-east of the autonomous region of Xinjang early on Thursday morning German time.

According to the calculations of astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, the Shenlong landed on the Lop Nor runway on a dry riverbed at 1:10 a.m. Universal Time (3:10 a.m. German time) on Thursday.

The circumstances are largely a secret

According to Gizmodo, the spacecraft completed its third flight and spent 268 days in orbit on a largely secret mission that was probably aimed at developing the experimental spacecraft.

During its time in orbit, the reusable Shenlong dropped several unidentified objects and climbed to an altitude of up to 372 miles (about 599 km) above the Earth. The space shuttle released six objects after the launch. Another one in May.

Mysterious objects apparently send signals

Dowell suggested in May that they could be sub-satellites or a piece of hardware that was ejected before the end of the mission and left Earth orbit. He referred to previous Shenlong orbital flights that took place from 2021 onwards. The objects apparently send radio signals, as amateur astronomer Scott Tilley found out.

The 268-day mission was a test for the spacecraft's reusable technology and for conducting space-based scientific experiments, as reported by the Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

After a launch in August 2022, the Shenlong spent the longest time in Earth orbit at 276 days. The fact that China has not topped its previous record this time could be due to the planned reuse of the space shuttle. Apparently, the country has even greater space ambitions.

(nen)