China awards medals to Shenzhou
This undated photo shows Chinese taikonauts Jing Haipeng (C), Zhu Yangzhu (R) and Gui Haichao who carried out the Shenzhou-16 spaceflight mission. [Photo/Xinhua]
Three astronauts who took part in the Shenzhou-16 crewed mission were on Thursday awarded medals for their services to China's space endeavors.
Jing Haipeng was honored with a special-class aerospace achievement medal. Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao received third-class aerospace achievement medals and the honorary title of "Heroic Astronaut."
The awards were given by the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the State Council and the Central Military Commission.
Jing carried out crewed space missions four times and served as the mission commander three times. He is the Chinese astronaut who has carried out the most crewed missions for his country.
Zhu is the country's first space flight engineer to carry out a crewed space mission and conduct extravehicular activities.
Gui is China's first payload expert to carry out a crewed space mission.
Launched on May 30, 2023, the Shenzhou-16 spaceship sent the trio to China's space station core module Tianhe, where they lived and worked for five months.
During their stay, they performed extravehicular activities once, delivered a live class from the space station, and conducted a series of space-science experiments and in-orbit payload experiments.
The trio returned to Earth safely on Oct. 31, 2023. The Shenzhou-16 mission is the first crewed mission for the application and development stage of China's space station. It is also the first time that three types of astronaut -- pilot, flight engineer and payload expert -- have carried out a mission together.
Related articles
What a blast to work at NASA. Space agency is sky
WASHINGTON (AP) — Exploring the cosmos makes for happy employees, federal workers like to work from2024-05-21Government takes 'first steps' to speed up consent process
The "overly restrictive" resource management legislation was holding the country back, Chris Bishop2024-05-21- new york —Robert MacNeil, who created the even-handed, no-frills PBS newscast "The MacNeil-Lehr2024-05-21
Auckland rail crossings to be removed ahead of City Rail Link opening
At the Lloyd Ave crossing in Mount Albert, AT said it had started to work on improving the alternati2024-05-21Brazil replaces injured goalkeeper Ederson in Copa America squad
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil coach Dorival Júnior has replaced injured goalkeeper Ederson with Sao P2024-05-21Luxon assures Ukraine's Zelensky of New Zealand's 'strong' support
File photo. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky at the UN in New York, September 2023. Photo: TIMOT2024-05-21
atest comment