Shenzhou XIV mission astronauts open up at news conference

Liu, the first Chinese woman in space, said the Shenzhou XIV was her second spaceflight and she made a paper "lucky star" each day of the mission.

She said she often stared at China when the station flew over the country.

"I know that there are numerous females in our nation working hard to pursue their dreams with courage and determination," the female astronaut said. "I wish that each of us could realize our aspirations and become a light to bring warmth to others."

Cai, for whom this was his first spaceflight, recalled that eating the vegetables they grew in the space station brought a lot of happiness to the crew though taking care of the plants was never easy.

Chen's crew was the third group to go to the Chinese station, one of the largest pieces of infrastructure ever deployed in Earth's orbit. The three were launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert on June 5 and arrived at Tiangong later that day.