China... Acquire Licensing Rights Read moreBEIJING, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The youngest-ever crew of Chinese astronauts departed for China's space station on Thursday, paving the way for a new generation of "taikonauts" to advance the country's space ambitions in the future.
Leading the six-month mission was former air force pilot Tang Hongbo, 48, who was on the first crewed mission to the space station in 2021.
By contrast, his fellow Shenzhou-17 crew members Tang Shengjie, 33, and Jiang Xinlin, 35, both travelling to space for the first time, joined China's third batch of astronauts in September 2020.
The Shenzhou-17 astronauts will replace the Shenzhou-16 crew, who arrived at Tiangong at the end of May.
Shenzhou-17 marks China's 12th crewed mission since Yang Liwei's solo spaceflight in October 2003, the first Chinese national in space.
Persons:
Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie, Jiang Xinlin, Tang, Tiangong, Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu, Gui Haichao, Zhu, Gui, Yang Liwei's, Ryan Woo, Tom Hogue, Gerry Doyle
Organizations:
taikonauts, People's Liberation Army, NASA, Space, U.S, Thomson
Locations:
Jiuquan, Gansu province, China, BEIJING, Hong Kong, Macau, Tiangong