China holds ceremony to honor Shenzhou-20, Shenzhou-21 astronauts

An awards ceremony for the astronauts of China's Shenzhou-20 and Shenzhou-21 spaceflight missions was held in Beijing on Wednesday.

Zhang Shengmin, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, presented medals and certificates to Shenzhou-20 astronauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, and to Shenzhou-21 astronauts Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the State Council and the Central Military Commission made separate decisions in January and August 2026 to confer honorary titles and award medals to the Shenzhou-20 and Shenzhou-21 crew for their service to China's space endeavors.

Chen Dong, the Shenzhou-20 commander who has flown three missions and became the first Chinese astronaut to spend more than 400 days in orbit, received a first-class aerospace achievement medal. His crewmates Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie were awarded third-class medals and the honorary title of "heroic astronaut."

Zhang Lu, the Shenzhou-21 commander who set a Chinese record with seven spacewalks, was honored with a second-class aerospace achievement medal. Spaceflight engineer Wu Fei and payload specialist Zhang Hongzhang also received third-class medals and the title of "heroic astronaut."

The Shenzhou-21 trio launched in late October 2025 and returned in May 2026, spending 210 days in orbit, the longest single-crew stay by Chinese astronauts. Their mission followed the Shenzhou-20 crew's 204-day flight, which ended with an unprecedented return aboard the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft following a suspected debris strike on Shenzhou-20's viewport.

The U.S. dollar strengthened in late trading on Wednesday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, added 0.49 percent to 101.096 at 15:00 (1900 GMT).

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1387 dollars from 1.1442 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound was down to 1.3243 dollars from 1.3335 dollars in the previous session.

The U.S. dollar bought 158.27 Japanese yen, higher than 157.5 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar rose to 0.8244 Swiss francs from 0.8212 Swiss francs, and it was up to 1.4097 Canadian dollars from 1.4068 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar advanced to 9.9169 Swedish kronor from 9.8487 Swedish kronor.