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There are currently no astronauts aboard the new Chinese space station, but a stowaway from a recent cargo mission now inhabits the orbital outpost.
Cameras aboard the Tianzhou 3 cargo spacecraft show a stuffed cow nestled among supplies and equipment. Tianzhou 3 docked with the Tianhe module, the central module of China’s Tiangong space station, on September 20 in preparation for the upcoming Shenzhou 13 manned mission, which is currently scheduled to launch on October 16.
The cow was probably chosen because this year is the year of the ox in the 12-year sequence of Chinese zodiac animals.
Related: The latest news from the Chinese space program
The plush is also attached, rather than being a “zero-g indicator,” as seen on some US missions, which would start to float under weightlessness or microgravity.
And this is not the first to visit the Chinese space station. Shenzhou 12 astronaut Liu Boming took a small stuffed cow to Tianhe and introduced it on a video tour. Liu brought the cow back to Earth with him on September 17th.
By the time the next crewed mission, Shenzhou 14, kicks off around May 2022, it will be the Year of the Tiger, so expect a striped plush toy to be in the game.
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