The Shenzhou-14 manned spacecraft, carrying astronauts Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe, separated from China's space station at 11:01 a.m. Beijing Time on Sunday, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

Before the separation, the Shenzhou-14 astronaut trio conducted China's first-ever in-orbit personnel rotation, the status setting of the space station, and experimental data sorting and downloading, and waved goodbye to the Shenzhou-15 crew.

The three astronauts, who will soon put a full stop to their 183-day trip in space, are expected to touch down at the Dongfeng landing site in northwest China on the night of December 4, according to the CMSA.

The weather during the crew's return window is forecast to reach minus 15 degrees Celsius. 

The site's search and rescue teams, which successfully conducted recoveries of the Shenzhou-12 and Shenzhou-13 crews, are ready to stretch out their capabilities for cold winter night rescue. 

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China's Shenhou-14 crew to return at winter night, landing site ready