由航天员翟志刚、王亚平和叶光富组成的“太空出差”三人组用半年的时间，创下了中国航天员单次在太空驻留的新纪录。这六个月的太空之旅，是目前对中国载人航天系统的最强实战考验。除了在太空驻留期间的科研任务和中国空间站的建设，神舟十三号的返航过程也有许多科技元素值得解读。4月16日9时56分，神舟十三号飞船返回舱在东风着陆场成功着陆。从与空间站天和核心舱分离到返回地面，全程仅用9个多小时，中国载人飞船首次采用快速返回模式“回家”。返回时间的缩短，也对着陆场系统快速反应能力提出了更高要求。
神舟十三号搜救回收地面分队指挥员牛永进向CGTN解释了搜索程序——相较地面团队速度更快的直升机小组首先出发搜寻返还舱，然后地面团队将按照预测的着陆点到达。两个团队互为辅助，如果着陆点不够安全，直升机无法着陆，地面团队将迅速抵达，并帮助航天员离开飞船。 载人航天工程着陆场系统副总设计师卞韩城介绍，此次为迎接神舟十三号返回，工程人员专门对直升机内部的布局和关键设备进行了改造，提高了指挥决策效率和搜索效率。When the crew members of China's Shenzhou-13 manned spaceship returned to Earth on Saturday, landing at the Dongfeng site in north China, they were assisted by quick responding personnel on the ground.For the first time in China a fast return strategy was put in place, allowing the spacecraft to travel back to Earth in a matter of hours.Niu Yongjin, commander of the Shenzhou-13 ground team, explained the procedure to CGTN ahead of the landing: "A team in helicopters, which are faster, will first set out to search for the module.""Then the ground team will arrive, following the prediction of the landing point. Both of these teams will complement each other. If the landing point is not safe enough for the helicopters to land, the ground team will arrive shortly after, and help the taikonauts leave the craft.""The control over the return is very complicated and needs very close coordination among many systems and units on Earth and between them and the capsule," said Bian Hancheng, deputy chief designer of the landing site system of China's manned space program. "A tiny error could result in a wide divergence."To ensure that support arrived as soon as the capsule landed, the ground team needed to respond rapidly, he added."We've made a lot of technical upgrades since the return mission of Shenzhou-12," said Bian. "We invented 18 pieces of new equipment. We also optimized the interior layout of the commanding helicopter and greatly improved its efficiency in searching and commanding in the air. We're also using state-of-the-art off-road vehicles in command and dispatch, search and engineering transportation."航天员长期在轨飞行，身体会发生骨质流失、肌肉萎缩、免疫力下降等变化，贸然行走容易发生骨折，着陆后长时间暴露在户外也可能对他们的健康造成威胁。
为了保障航天员的安全和健康，神舟十三号乘组安全返回地球后，每出舱一名便被送入医监医保载体，尽可能缩短航天员出舱后在野外环境暴露的时间。中国航天员中心着陆场医监医保副主任设计师吴元亮说，航天员出舱后，把航天员抬进医监医保车是首选方案，备选方式是进入医监医保帐篷，医监医保直升飞机则是保底方案。与此前的任务相比，这三种载体在功能性、创新性、舒适性等方面都有了进一步改善。神舟十三号搜救回收任务首次启用第二代医监医保车，车内设施配备齐全，装有温度控制系统等。航天员乘升降梯进入车内，不再由搜救人员抬送。"These taikonauts are returning after six months in orbit," noted Bian. "Long outdoor exposure after landing would harm their health. It's especially important for them to re-adapt to gravity in the first few hours back on Earth.""If this is done properly, it will help them recover quickly. Otherwise, the recovery will take a long time."Taikonaut Wang Yaping waves to camera after returning to Earth from China Space Station, Inner Mongolia, China, April 16, 2022. /CMGEach taikonaut's descent from the capsule is designed to be completed within two minutes, after which they are to be sent to a medical monitoring and support facility.
The three taikonauts had spent six month in space, the longest so far for China' space mission. So a comprehensive plan was made for their return.
Wu Yuanliang, head of the technical group of the landing site test team, explained: "In general, our first choice is medical vehicle, with tent as alternative, and the helicopter as backup. There is more space in car and tent. And in terms of temperature control, the vehicles are equipped with air conditioners and so on. The environment there is more comfortable to make taikonauts feel at ease."在经历了神舟十二、十三号两个乘组的飞行后，中国空间站圆满完成了建造的关键技术验证阶段，即将进入正式的建造阶段，整个载人航天系统也逐渐完成了从原本的单次任务模式到长期任务模式的转换。空间站副总设计师柏林厚表示，在神舟十三号之后的六次发射任务中，装配阶段预计将是特别具有挑战性的。5月发射天舟四号货运飞船；
6月发射神舟十四号载人飞船，3名航天员进驻核心舱并在轨驻留6个月；
7月发射空间站问天实验舱，与天和核心舱对接；
10月发射梦天实验舱与核心舱对接，之后空间站三舱形成“T”字基本构型，完成中国空间站在轨建造；
随后将发射天舟五号货运飞船和神舟十五号载人飞船，神舟十五号飞行乘组由3名航天员组成，与神舟十四号航天员在轨轮换后，在轨驻留6个月。
中国载人航天工程航天员系统总设计师黄伟芬在回答总台CGTN记者郑亦冰提问时表示，神舟十四和神舟十五号飞行乘组人员已确定，正在积极开展相关训练和任务准备。With the completion of the Shenzhou-13 mission, the "technology verification phase" of China's space station project is over and it will now enter the "in-orbit construction phase.""The key technology verification stage for China space station has been a complete success," said Yang Haifeng, team leader of the Shenzhou-13 Spaceship Flight Control Technology Team at the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST). "We are ready to turn to the Shenzhou-14 and Shenzhou-15 missions. The future missions have very good footing."Construction on the space station is scheduled to be completed in 2022.The assembly phase during the six missions following Shenzhou-13 is expected to be particular challenging, according to Bo Linhou, the deputy chief designer of the space station system at CAST."There will be many first-time attempts, for example, in-orbit transition for space modules, and new attempts to move cargo out of the station for construction without taikonauts going out," Bo said. But he added these challenges will be met with help from the ground. China will launch this year the Tianzhou-4 cargo spacecraft, which will deliver supplies for the Shenzhou-14 crewed spaceship that will follow shortly after. Two lab modules, Wentian and Mengtian, will be sent successively into space.Each lab module will first dock with the front docking port of the core module before being transferred by the space station's robotic arm to side docking ports.This will create a T-shape complex once construction is complete.China's finished space station will weigh nearly 100 metric tonnes. And it will be able to host six astronauts together, for a short period of time. Marking the current phase of development, Bo said: "I give 100 out of 100."The Tianzhou-5 cargo spacecraft and the Shenzhou-15 crewed spaceship will then be launched to begin the in-orbit rotation of the space station's crew. A telescope capsule will also be sent into space to fly in the same orbit as the space station to provide observation data for astronomical and physical studies.After completing the space station, China plans to carry out more extensive and in-depth international cooperation.