China's second manned spacecraft Shenzhou VI is to return to the Earth early this morning, the ground control center announced yesterday evening.
The spacecraft, blasting off last Wednesday morning with Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng aboard, was operating smoothly and the astronauts were preparing for the touchdown, according to the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center.
The two astronauts, or taikonauts, have changed back to white space suits and closed the door of the re-entry capsule, according to the ground control center.
The mission has accomplished planned experiments and accumulated valuable technical data and experience for development of China's manned space program.
The spacecraft is scheduled to touch down at the primary landing site in Siziwang Banner (county) of Inner Mongolia, north China, where full preparations have been made to ensure the safety of the crew, said Hou Ying, chief designer of the landing site system.
The system is comprised of five subsystems of the primary and secondary landing site, land emergency rescue, marine emergency rescue, telecommunications and medical monitoring and guarantees.
Six hours before the scheduled return, mission control will decide whether the re-entry capsule will land at the primary landing site or a northwestern standby site.
Search and rescue workers have prepared full gear, including six helicopters, for the landing.
"All the six helicopters, 14 special vehicles and more than 200 rescuers are in the primary landing site," Sui Qisheng, commander in charge of landing, said yesterday.
Detailed plans have been drawn up for the recovery. The first task is to sight the Earth-bound module in the sky.