Tiangong

China has embarked on a new era in its space exploration endeavors by launching the youngest-ever crew of astronauts, known as taikonauts, to its Tiangong space station, intended to cement the country’s position in the global space race. Shenzhou-17 or “divine vessel” took off October 26 with three crew members atop a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

I really hope this isn’t your first time learning about the three Chinese astronauts (taikonauts) currently on orbit Earth at their nation’s space station. However, earlier this week, two taikonauts performed a spacewalk outside the Tiangong space station but to no fan fair from its space agency.