China has sent an astronaut to the space station for a year
China has sent three astronauts to the Tiangong space station as part of a new space mission, which comes amid intensifying space competition with the United States. One of the astronauts will spend a full year there.
This was reported by Reuters.
The Shenzhou-23 spacecraft launched on Sunday, May 24, at 11:08 p.m. local time from the Jiuquan Space Center in northwestern China. The spacecraft was launched into orbit by a Long March-2F Y23 carrier rocket.
Three Chinese astronauts are on board:
- Li Jiajin – payload specialist and former Hong Kong police inspector;
- Zhu Yangzhu – mission commander;
- Zhang Yuanji – mission pilot.
Li Jiajin has attracted particular attention as the first representative from Hong Kong to participate in a Chinese space mission.
The main feature of the flight will be that one of the astronauts will remain at the Tiangong station for a full year. This will be a record-breaking duration of stay in space for China and will allow scientists to study the effects of long-duration space missions on the human body.
Who exactly will remain in orbit for 12 months will be determined during the mission.
Despite being a record for China, this duration is still shorter than the world record—14.5 months—set by a Russian cosmonaut in 1995.
The current launch comes amid an intensifying space race between China and the U.S.
Washington has previously stated that Beijing may seek to colonize the Moon and exploit its resources.
Meanwhile, NASA plans to land astronauts on the Moon in 2028, two years ahead of the Chinese program. The U.S. views the establishment of a permanent base on Earth’s satellite as a preparatory step for future crewed missions to Mars.
As a reminder, a historic milestone in space exploration has been reached—the Orion spacecraft capsule, with four astronauts on board, successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, concluding the first crewed mission to the Moon in over 50 years.
As a reminder, the Orion spacecraft with four astronauts on board officially crossed the boundary of the Moon’s gravitational sphere.
The Artemis II mission crew has traveled halfway to the Moon and sent back the first photos of Earth from deep space. This is the first human flight beyond Earth’s orbit since 1972.
Additionally, the Artemis II astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft temporarily lost contact with Earth while flying near the far side of the Moon, but before that, they sent an emotional message to humanity.
