Taikonauts on Chinese space station Tiangong-2 greet ESA and Thomas Pesquet

This video was recorded inside the Chinese space station Tiangong-2 by ‘taikonauts’ (astronauts) Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong. The duo landed safely on Earth on 18 November after spending a month orbiting Earth. A few hours before their descent, ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet was launched aboard a Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station.

ESA’s Director of Human Spaceflight, David Parker, noted, “Human spaceflight provides many opportunities to increase international cooperation, and the interaction between the Astronaut Centre of China and the European Astronaut Centre is already creating positive experiences on which to build for the future.”

A cheesecake created by French chef Alain Duchasse for Thomas Pesquet’s six-month mission on the International Space Station was sent to the Chinese astronauts.

Taikonaut Ye Guangfu, who trained with the astronauts in this video, took part in ESA’s underground course this summer.