An exhibition at the National Museum of China in Beijing offers a glimpse of the long way the country's manned space program has come over the past three decades.

On display are models of the Long March carrier rockets and the Tianhe core module of the Tiangong space station, as well as real spacesuits and rocket engines.

China's manned space program debuted in September 1992, with the aim of assembling and operating a permanent manned space station. The Shenzhou-15 mission, launched in November 2022, wrapped up the last stage of the construction of this space station and ushered in a new phase of application and development, which will last at least 10 years.

(Text and photos by Wei Yao)

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson 

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