Three astronauts from China’s historic Shenzhou-16 mission have been celebrated with top honors for their groundbreaking contributions to space exploration . Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu, and Gui Haichao received medals and accolades from the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the State Council, and the Central Military Commission on Thursday.
Jing Haipeng, a veteran astronaut with four spaceflights under his belt, snagged the special-class aerospace medal—a testament to his role as mission commander three times. Talk about #CareerGoals!
Meanwhile, Zhu Yangzhu etched his name in history as China’s first spaceflight engineer to conduct extravehicular activities (translation: epic spacewalks ). Gui Haichao, the team’s payload expert, broke barriers as the first in his role to join a crewed mission.
The trio’s five-month stay aboard the Tianhe space station core module wasn’t all stargazing . They aced experiments, hosted a LIVE space class , and even floated outside for some orbital maintenance. Their safe return in October 2023 marked a major milestone: the first crewed mission in China’s space station development phase, and the debut collaboration of pilot, engineer, and payload expert astronauts.
As China’s space ambitions soar, these heroes remind us that teamwork truly is out of this world .
. Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu, and Gui Haichao received medals and accolades from the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the State Council, and the Central Military Commission on Thursday.
Jing Haipeng, a veteran astronaut with four spaceflights under his belt, snagged the special-class aerospace medal—a testament to his role as mission commander three times. Talk about #CareerGoals! 
). Gui Haichao, the team’s payload expert, broke barriers as the first in his role to join a crewed mission.
. They aced experiments, hosted a LIVE space class 
, and even floated outside for some orbital maintenance. Their safe return in October 2023 marked a major milestone: the first crewed mission in China’s space station development phase, and the debut collaboration of pilot, engineer, and payload expert astronauts.
