Editor's note: CGTN's China Space Station series provides a collection of in-depth stories and analyses about technologies used in China's first permanent space station, the crown jewel of the nation's space endeavors.

History was made for China when its Shenzhou-13 astronauts, or taikonauts, Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu, returned home safely on Saturday morning after a record-breaking 183-day mission in space.

Their trip to and back from China's space station was made possible aboard the three-module Shenzhou-13 spacecraft composed of a return capsule, an orbital module and a propulsion module, or the service module.

The return capsule carrying the trio touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 9:56 a.m. after a journey of about nine hours from the country's space station.

Here is a timeline of the de-orbiting, re-entry and landing of the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft, which can be applied to future Shenzhou spacecraft as well.

About six hours prior to undocking, the Beijing Aerospace Control Center makes a decision based on a series of conditions, including the status of the landing site, and most importantly ensures that the designated landing site will pass over the space station's orbital plane.

By this time, the astronauts have already closed the hatches between the station and the spacecraft, made sure that they are perfectly sealed, and changed into their spacesuits to wait for the undocking command.

At 12:44 a.m., the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft separates from the nadir (Earth-facing) docking port of China's space station with the help of a few small thruster bursts. It then goes into free flight until it arrives at a point far enough from the station to separate its orbital module.

At 9:06 a.m., the spacecraft performs the orbital module separation, leaving the Shenzhou-13 with the re-entry capsule and the propulsion module to circle the Earth several times before it arrives at a point near South Africa.

At 9:30 a.m., the braking engine of the return capsule starts working to slow it down, and it then jettisons the propulsion module to enter its re-entry trajectory.

After the service module separates, the return capsule makes some small thrusts to adjust its altitude and position to an angle that is best for re-entry and makes sure that the heat shield is facing the Earth.

As the vehicle streaks through the atmosphere, it is almost in free fall, generating a plasma that can hit 2,000 degrees Celsius. However, the heat shield – which is designed to be ablated to absorb much of the thermal energy – and astronauts' spacesuits help them stay cool and clear-headed. 

About 14 minutes after the capsule enters the atmosphere, it deploys a pilot parachute that pulls out a drogue chute for deceleration. After working for about 15 seconds, the drogue chute is cut and the main chute is deployed.

And at 9:56 a.m., the return capsule successfully lands and the recovery team arrives at the landing point.

Welcome home, space heroes!

Reporter: Zhao Chenchen

Video editor: Zhang Rongyi

Cover image: Xing Cheng

Producer: Cao Qingqing

Chief editor: Wen Yaru

Supervisor: Zhang Shilei