China to Send Astronaut on Year-Long Space Mission

China is set to launch three astronauts to its space station on Sunday, with one crew member scheduled to remain on board for a year, a record duration for the country. The mission will allow researchers to study human physiology during long-term spaceflight as Beijing pursues a crewed lunar landing by 2030.

The Shenzhou-23 spacecraft is scheduled to lift off at 11:08 p.m. local time aboard the Long March-2F Y23 launch vehicle from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

Payload specialist Li Jiaying, a former Hong Kong police inspector, will be the first female astronaut from the city to take part in a Chinese space mission. The other crew members are commander Zhu Yangzhu and pilot Zhang Yuanzhi, both from the Chinese People's Liberation Army's astronaut detachment.

Which of the three will remain on the Tiangong space station for a year has yet to be decided and will depend on the progress of the mission, China's Manned Space Agency said. The planned stay would rank among the longest in history, though it falls short of the record of 14 and a half months set by a Russian cosmonaut in 1995.

(reuters, luc)