China honors Shenzhou-14 mission astronauts with medals

BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Three astronauts from the Shenzhou-14 crewed mission were awarded medals for their service to China's space endeavors on Friday.

Chen Dong and Liu Yang were honored with second-class aerospace achievement medals, while Cai Xuzhe received a third-class medal and the honorary title of "Heroic Astronaut."

The awards were presented by the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the State Council and the Central Military Commission.

Chen, the Shenzhou-14 mission commander, also participated in the Shenzhou-11 crewed spaceflight mission and was the first Chinese astronaut to spend more than 200 days in space. Liu became China's first female astronaut when she took part in the Shenzhou-9 mission. The flight was Cai's first space mission.

Launched on June 5, 2022, the Shenzhou-14 spaceship sent the trio to China's space station core module Tianhe, where they lived and worked for six months.

They performed extravehicular activities three times and conducted a series of space science and technology experiments during their stay.