China has launched its Shenzhou-23 mission, sending three astronauts to the Tiangong space station with the ambitious goal of keeping one of them in orbit for an entire year. Because apparently, six months of microgravity just wasn't enough time to study bone loss and muscle wasting.
The Long March 2-F rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan launch centre in north-western China on Sunday, carrying the crew to the Tiangong space station. The mission marks the first spaceflight ever for an astronaut from Hong Kong: Lai Ka-ying, 43, a former police officer for the territory. Joining him are space engineer Zhu Yangzhu, 39, and former air force pilot Zhang Zhiyuan, also 39, both making their inaugural trip to space.
The crew will conduct numerous scientific projects in life sciences, materials science, fluid physics and medicine. A key experiment involves one astronaut staying in orbit for a full year to study the long-term effects of microgravity, part of China's preparations for future lunar and possibly Martian missions. The astronaut selected for this year-long stint will be named later, because apparently, you don't just volunteer for that.
Richard de Grijs, an astrophysicist at Macquarie University in Australia, noted the main challenges include bone density loss, muscle wasting, radiation exposure, sleep disturbance, and behavioral and psychological fatigue. He also stressed the importance of reliable water and air recycling systems and the ability to handle medical emergencies far from Earth. "A year in orbit pushes both hardware and humans into a different operational regime compared with the shorter Shenzhou missions of the programme's earlier phases," he said.
Tiangong crews have typically stayed in orbit for six months before being replaced. The Shenzhou-23 mission is part of China's goal to land astronauts on the moon before 2030, racing NASA's Artemis program. Beijing is also testing equipment for that goal, with an orbital test flight of its Mengzhou spacecraft set for 2026 to replace the aging Shenzhou line and carry astronauts to the moon.
China hopes to complete the first phase of a manned scientific base, the International Lunar Research Station, by 2035. It also plans to welcome its first foreign astronaut, from Pakistan, to the Tiangong station by the end of this year. Beijing has significantly expanded its space programs over the last 30 years, injecting billions of dollars to catch up with the US, Russia, and Europe. It landed the Chang'e-4 probe on the far side of the moon in 2019 (a world first) and a rover on Mars in 2021.
China has been formally excluded from the International Space Station since 2011, when the US banned NASA from collaborating with Beijing, prompting China to develop its own space station. So, you know, thanks for the motivation.