Hundreds of miles above the earth’s surface, there are currently two space stations circling the globe: the International Space Station — completed over a decade ago through a collaboration between Europe, the U.S., Russia, Canada and Japan — and Tiangong, due for completion this year by one nation: China. Tiangong, which means ‘heavenly palace,’ is only one part of China’s effort in space. In the last two years, it has launched its first independent mission to another planet, com