China honors Shenzhou-12 mission astronauts with medals

BEIJING, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Three astronauts of the Shenzhou-12 spaceflight mission were awarded medals for their service to China's space endeavors on Tuesday.

Nie Haisheng, 56, commander of the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft, was honored with a first-class aerospace achievement medal, and Liu Boming, 54, was conferred a second-class medal, while Tang Hongbo, 45, received a third-class medal and the honorary title "heroic astronaut."

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

Launched on June 17, Shenzhou-12 for the first time sent astronauts to China's space station core module Tianhe, where they lived for three months, the longest time Chinese astronauts have spent in space so far.

The Shenzhou-12 mission was the third space mission for Nie, and his second deployment as commander. He is the first Chinese astronaut to spend 100 days in space. It was Liu's second space mission and Tang's first.

The Shenzhou-12 mission is part of China's plan to build a permanent manned space station.