BEIJING: China launched its Shenzhou-23 mission on Sunday, which will see a Chinese astronaut spend a full year in orbit for the first time, a crucial step in Beijing’s ambition to send humans to the Moon by 2030.
The Long March 2-F rocket took off amid a cloud of flames and smoke at 11:08 p.m. (3:08 p.m. GMT) from the Jiuquan launch center in the Gobi Desert, northwest China, video from state broadcaster CCTV showed.
The mission marks the first space flight by a Hong Kong astronaut: Li Jiaying (Lai Ka-ying in Cantonese), 43, who previously worked for the Hong Kong police.
Other crew members include space engineer Zhu Yangzhu, 39, and former air force pilot Zhang Zhiyuan, 39, who is traveling to space for the first time.
The crew will carry out numerous scientific projects in life sciences, materials science, fluid physics and medicine.
A key experiment of Shenzhou-23 will be a crew member’s stay in orbit for an entire year to study the effects of a prolonged stay in microgravity.
One year experiment
The experiment is part of China’s preparations for future lunar missions, as well as missions to Mars.
The astronaut selected for this year-long mission will be named later depending on the progress of the Shenzhou-23 mission, a spokesperson for the Chinese space agency (CMSA) said on Saturday.
The main challenges will be the long-term effects on humans, including loss of bone density, muscle atrophy, radiation exposure, sleep disturbances, behavioral and psychological fatigue, said Richard de Grijs, an astrophysicist and professor at Macquarie University in Australia.
He also stressed the importance of having reliable water and air recycling systems, as well as the ability to manage potential medical emergencies far from Earth.
China is “steadily” accumulating operational experience for the “sustained occupation” of its Tiangong space station, and the year-long missions are an important step toward future lunar and potentially deep space ambitions, de Grijs said. AFP.
“A year in orbit pushes both hardware and humans into a different operating regime compared to the shorter Shenzhou missions of earlier phases of the program,” he said.
So far, the crews aboard Tiangong have remained in orbit for six months before being replaced.
The Shenzhou-23 mission is part of China’s goal of taking astronauts to the Moon before 2030, a race in which the United States also competes with its Artemis program.
Pakistani crew members
China is testing the equipment needed for its goal, with an orbital test flight of its new Mengzhou spacecraft scheduled for 2026.
The Mengzhou spacecraft will replace the old Shenzhou line and take Chinese astronauts to the Moon.
Beijing hopes to have built the first phase of a manned scientific base by 2035, known as the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS).
China also plans to welcome its first foreign astronaut, from Pakistan, aboard the Tiangong station later this year.
The Asian giant has significantly expanded its space programs over the past 30 years, injecting billions of dollars into the sector to catch up with the United States, Russia and Europe.
In 2019, China landed a spacecraft, the Chang’e-4 probe, on the far side of the Moon, a world first.
Then, in 2021, a small rover landed on Mars.
China has been formally excluded from the International Space Station (ISS) since 2011, when the United States banned NASA from collaborating with Beijing, prompting the Asian giant to develop its own space station project.
