China’s Space Station, Seen from Orbit

Crew on the Shenzhou 16 mission returning from the Tiangong space station captured this image on their return trip back to Earth. Image Credit: China Manned Space Agency.

When the Space Age dawned in 1957, there were only two players: the USA and the USSR. The USA won the space race by being first to the Moon, though the USSR enjoyed its own successes. But here we are only a few decades later, and the USSR appears to be fading away while China is surging ahead.

Nothing’s more emblematic of China’s surge than its Tiangong space station.

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