<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/24/china-launches-three-crew-space-flight-moon-shenzhou-23-mission>
"China has launched its
Shenzhou-23 mission in which an astronaut will 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 lifted off from the Jiuquan launch centre in
north-western China on Sunday, carrying three astronauts to the Tiangong space
station.
The mission marks the first spaceflight ever undertaken by an astronaut from
Hong Kong: Lai Ka-ying, 43, who previously worked for the territory’s police.
The other crew members are the space engineer Zhu Yangzhu, 39, and the former
air force pilot Zhang Zhiyuan, also 39, who will be travelling into space for
the first time.
The crew is expected to undertake numerous scientific projects in life
sciences, materials science, fluid physics and medicine.
A key experiment will be the full-year stay in orbit by one of the crew to
study the effects of a long stay in microgravity, part of China’s preparations
for future lunar and possible Martian missions.
The astronaut selected to spend a year in orbit will be named at a later date,
the Chinese space agency said."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
