RETURN OF EXPERIMENTAL CHINESE CREW SPACECRAFT, May 8, 2020, ~1:21-2:01 am ET

China’s experimental crew spacecraft, which does not yet have a name, is expected to return to Earth between 1:21-2:01 am EDT on May 8, 2020 according to Chinese space expert Andrew Jones.

The reentry and landing of the Chinese new-gen crew spacecraft will use a ‘skip’ reentry manoeuvre to help slow the return module then deploy 3 parachutes. Expected between 0521-0601 UTC/01:21-02:01 a.m. EDT Friday. https://t.co/QKFUytNHeM pic.twitter.com/RwqlK7vE4Y

— Andrew Jones (@AJ_FI) May 7, 2020

The prototype spacecraft was launched on May 5 by a Long March 5B and is conducting tests analogous to the Experimental Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) of NASA’s Orion spacecraft in 2014.  China plans to use it for its Earth-orbiting China Space Station (CSS) and perhaps for trips to the Moon.