How ancient legends and poems inspire the names of Chinese spacecrafts and space programs
On September 17, just in time for the lunar-themed Mid-Autumn Festival, the three members of the Shenzhou-12 mission returned safely to Earth, bringing China’s latest space mission to a successful end.
In total, the astronauts spent 92 days in space. For three months, they lived in China’s space station, the Tiangong; carried out two space walks; and performed a number of scientific experiments and technological trials.
The astronauts’ return brought attention once again to China’s space programs. If you’ve been following the country’s space ambitions, you may be familiar with the Chinese names of the missions and spacecrafts. Many of these names have rather romantic origins in space-related mythology and poetry—here are the stories behind a few:
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