Space Launch System
![NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen at night atop a mobile launcher as it rolls out of the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B](/sites/default/files/learn/sls-credit-NASA-Joel-Kowsky22.jpg)
Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
In partnership with the Faulkes Telescope Project
Occupation: Astronaut and Physicist
Year born: 1951
Research Areas: Spaceflight, Physics, X-rays
Tiangong is a space station engineered and maintained by the Chinese space agency. Tiangong means ‘heavenly palace’ in Chinese.
Tiangong is large enough for 6 astronauts to live and work there at a time but there is usually a crew of just 3 people on board. It has been home to Chinese astronauts since June 2022.