Three Chinese astronauts honored with medals

The three crew members of the Shenzhou XVII mission have been awarded with medals to honor their service and accomplishments.

The Communist Party of China Central Committee, the State Council and the Central Military Commission conferred on Friday the Second-grade Space Service Medal on Senior Colonel Tang Hongbo, the mission commander, and Third-grade Space Service Medal on the crew members Lieutenant Colonel Tang Shengjie and Lieutenant Colonel Jiang Xinlin.

Tang Shengjie and Jiang were also named "Heroic Astronaut". Tang Hongbo has previously received this honorary title for his first flight mission, the three-month Shenzhou XII in the summer of 2021.

All of them are part of the People's Liberation Army Astronaut Division headquartered in northwestern Beijing.

The Shenzhou XVII crew, who were the sixth crew to inhabit the Tiangong space station, took over the massive orbiting spacecraft in late October 2023 from their peers in the Shenzhou XVI mission.

During the Shenzhou XVII mission, the team conducted nearly 100 scientific experiments and technological tests in various fields, including life science, space medicine and new materials.

More than 200 pieces of samples were created through these experiments and tests and were sent back to Earth with the Shenzhou XVII vessel.

The astronauts also carried out two spacewalks that completed the first extravehicular repair operation for the Tiangong, which accumulated valuable data and experience for the space station's long-term operation. They returned to Earth on April 30.

After this 187-day mission, Tang Hongbo has stayed 279 days in orbit, extending his lead as the Chinese astronaut to have spent the longest time in space.

Tang Shengjie is now the youngest Chinese astronaut with spaceflight experience. He was 33 when flying into space on the Shenzhou XVII spaceship.

The current crew inside the Tiangong — the three members of the Shenzhou XVIII mission headed by Senior Colonel Ye Guangfu — arrived at the colossal outpost on April 26. They are scheduled to fly with the station until the end of October, when the Shenzhou XIX crew will take over.