The crew of China’s Shenzhou 23 mission to the Tiangong space station. From left: payload specialist Lai Ka-ying, commander Zhu Yangzhu and pilot Zhang Zhiyuan.
(Image credit: CMSA/CCTV)
China has named the three astronauts due to fly on the Shenzhou 23 mission on Sunday (May 24), including Hong Kong's first astronaut.A Long March 2F rocket is due to lift off at 11:08 a.m. EDT (1508 GMT, or 11:08 p.m. Beijing time) on Sunday (May 24) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert, sending the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft into orbit to dock with China's Tiangong space station in low Earth orbit.Aboard Shenzhou 23 will be commander Zhu Yangzhu, pilot Zhang Zhiyuan and payload specialist Lai Ka-ying. Zhu flew for the first time on the Shenzhou 16 mission in 2023, while Zhang and Lai, from China's third and fourth batches of astronauts, will be making their first trips to space. The crew were revealed at a press conference at Jiuquan on Saturday (May 23).
Watch live! China's Shenzhou 23 crew launches to Tiangong space station - YouTube
Watch On
