BEIJING ¨C 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.
The spacecraft Shenzhou-17, or ¡°Divine Vessel¡± and its three passengers lifted off atop a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.
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.
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