China awards medals to Shenzhou-16 astronauts

Three astronauts who took part in the Shenzhou-16 crewed mission were on Thursday awarded medals for their services to China's space endeavors. They were honored with a special-class aerospace achievement medal, third-class aerospace achievement medals and the honorary title of "Heroic Astronaut”.
The awards were given by the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the State Council and the Central Military Commission. Launched on May 30, 2023, the Shenzhou-16 spaceship sent the trio to China's space station, where they lived and worked for five months and returned to Earth safely on October 31, 2023.
The Shenzhou-16 mission is the first crewed mission in the application and development stage of China's space station. It is also the first time that three types of astronauts, pilot, flight engineer and payload expert carried out a mission together.