Photo provided by Astronaut Center of China shows Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng (R) and Chen Dong accept their first earth-space interview in Tiangong-2, Nov. 15, 2016. [Photo: Xinhua]

Two Chinese astronauts are preparing to return to earth after spending a month in space working on the Tiangong-2 space lab.

Mission control has confirmed that the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft had separated successfully from the Tiangong-2 with the two astronauts, Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong preparing to access the re-entry modules for the return journey.

Before leaving the Tiangong-2 space lab, they gathered together all the experimental instruments and placed them in the Shenzhou-11 re-entry modules.

The astronauts have been working on the space lab for 30 days, which is a new record for Chinese astronauts in space.

The Tiangong-2 space lab will stay in orbit and is expected to dock with Tianzhou-1, a cargo spacecraft, next April.