Pakistani astronaut for Tiangong flight to be selected in October — Dawn
In Beijing, two Pakistani pilots, Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Dawood, are training for a flight to China’s Tiangong space station. A final decision on which of them will become the first Pakistani astronaut is expected in mid- or late October, Dawn reports, citing Amer Gilani, a representative of Pakistan’s space agency Suparco.
The candidates have been studying for several months at the China Astronaut Research and Training Center in Beijing. They are being prepared to work in zero gravity, taught spacecraft systems and the Chinese language, and trained to withstand the g-forces during launch. After the final selection, the candidate will not return to Pakistan before launch and will arrive home after the flight and a recovery period.
Selection and scientific experiments
Ali and Dawood were selected from about 20 finalists chosen from an initial group of Pakistani pilots and scientists. Suparco’s director of artificial intelligence, Uzair Ansari, explained that the two candidates with high-speed flight experience were selected for their ability to withstand significant g-forces.
In orbit, the selected participant will have the status of a payload specialist: he will conduct Pakistani scientific experiments rather than operate the spacecraft. Chinese institutes selected four biotechnology studies for the flight from more than 300 proposals submitted by universities in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. According to Gilani, the experiments are intended to help combat food insecurity and climate change.
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Flight on the Chinese station
The Pakistani astronaut will fly on a Chinese spacecraft from a Chinese spaceport and communicate in Chinese on the station. His expected stay aboard Tiangong will last about a week. Pakistan does not have its own launch vehicle or crewed spacecraft.
The Pakistani participant is expected to return to Earth together with two members of the Chinese crew that arrived at the station in May. A third member of that crew is expected to remain in orbit for a year to study the effects of long-term stays in space on the human body. This will be the first time China transports a foreign astronaut.
Pakistan’s and China’s cooperation in the space sector also includes launches of Pakistani satellites and a Pakistan-developed lunar rover that is planned to be sent on the Chang’e 8 mission around 2028. According to Ansari, the vehicle will use AI-based stereo imaging to detect obstacles and independently plan its route on the lunar surface.
