China launched this Sunday (24) the Shenzhou-23 mission, which marks a crucial milestone in the country’s space program: an astronaut will spend an entire year in orbit for the first time. The Longa Marcha 2F rocket took off at 23:08 local time (12:08 from Brasília) from Centro from Lançamento from Satélites from Jiuquan, in the Gobi desert, carrying three crew members towards the Tiangong space station. The mission is part of Chinese preparations to send humans to Lua by 2030, consolidating the country as a competitive power on the global space scene.
Tripulação and firsts in history
Commander Zhu Yangzhu, a 39-year-old aerospace engineer, leads the mission alongside pilot Zhang Zhiyuan, also 39 years old and on his first flight. Li Jiaying, 43 years old, is the highlight: Hong Kong’s first astronaut to travel to space and a former member of the semi-autonomous territory’s police. The selection of which crew member will spend the twelve continuous months in orbit will be defined later, as Shenzhou-23 progresses.
Experimentos unprecedented scientific
Astronauts will perform multiple studies on the Tiangong station during the extended mission:
- Pesquisa in life sciences and human physiology
- Análise of materials in prolonged microgravity
- Física of fluids and behavior in space environment
- Orbital Medicina and biological response to isolation
- Testes of life support systems and medical emergencies
Richard of Grijs, astrophysicist and professor at Universidade Macquarie, explained that the human experiment is the core of the operation. The main risks include loss of bone density, muscle atrophy, radiation exposure, sleep disorders and psychological fatigue. The reliability of the water and air recycling systems is critical to ensuring safety during a year away from Terra, an operational challenge much greater than previous six-month missions.
Strategic Etapa for Lua
Pequim has been investing for thirty years to bring its program to par with Estados Unidos, Rússia and Europa. The extended duration of this mission will provide vital data on how systems and crews respond to prolonged periods in orbit, indispensable information for future expeditions to Lua. Este year, the test flight of the Mengzhou spacecraft is planned, which will replace the Shenzhou in manned lunar missions. Até 2035, China intends to have built the first segment of a scientific base inhabited on Lua, called Estação Internacional from Pesquisa Lunar (ILRS).
Avanços recent space program
China has demonstrated accelerated progress on the international space stage. In 2019, a probe landed on the hidden side of Lua, an unprecedented feat worldwide. In 2021, it successfully landed a robot on Marte. Esses milestones reflect the country’s billion-dollar investment in aerospace technology. The isolation of the Chinese program occurred in 2011, when Estados Unidos banned Nasa from collaborating with Pequim, leading the Asian giant to develop its own space station independently, Tiangong, which now operates as an alternative to Estação Espacial Internacional.