China sends crew to Tiangong space station on strategic mission

According to Chinese authorities, the prolonged stay will serve to study the medical effects of microgravity on the human body, in a step considered strategic for Beijing's plans to take astronauts to the Moon by 2030.

The trip to the space station took about three and a half hours — much less time than the time normally spent by the United States to reach the International Space Station.

The mission departed from the Gobi Desert in northwestern China on the 40th flight of China's manned space program. The destination is Tiangong station, whose name means “Heavenly Palace” in Mandarin. Among the crew is Lai Kai Yin, the first person from Hong Kong to go into space. Her participation is also seen as a political gesture of integration of the former British colony into mainland China.

According to analysts interviewed by Fantástico, her participation also has political weight, as Beijing tries to reinforce Hong Kong's integration into the country after years of tensions and disputes over rights in the region.

Another crew member is Jang Juan, a former Chinese Air Force pilot who underwent extreme training, including days isolated inside a cave without light to simulate the conditions of space.

Docking at the space station was done without a pilot in control, using the Beidou system, the GPS developed by China itself.

In 2020, the country became the third nation in the world with its own global navigation system, behind only the United States and Russia.

Shenzhou 23 carries nine scientific experiments and 54 kilograms of equipment. Among them, studies on changes in liver cells in a microgravity environment and tests with perovskite solar cells, a technology considered lighter and cheaper for future space bases.

Astronauts will also try to grow rice in space. The experiment symbolizes the attempt to bring one of the most traditional elements of Chinese culture to future long-duration space missions.

Later this year, China intends to launch the Chang'e 7 probe towards the south pole of the Moon to study possible areas for installing a future lunar base.

The movement puts the country in direct dispute with the Americans, who also want to take astronauts back to the Moon with the Artemis program.

When the United States first landed on the Moon in 1969, China did not yet have a structured space program.