China's ambitious space program has taken another significant step forward. The China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) recently announced the selection of ten new astronauts for training, bringing the country closer to its goal of putting a crew on the moon by 2030.
Artist's illustration of astronauts on the moon planting a Chinese flag. (Image credit: 3DSculptori/Stock/Getty Images)
The Astronaut Candidates
Eight Pilots: Among the ten candidates, eight are pilots. Notably, this batch includes pilots from the ground force and navy wings of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), marking the first time non-air force pilots have been selected.
Two Payload Experts: The remaining two candidates are payload specialists. What makes this selection even more remarkable is that they hail from Hong Kong and Macao, the first astronauts chosen from these "special administrative regions."
Training and Missions
The selected candidates will undergo approximately two years of rigorous training at the Astronaut Center of China (ACC) in Beijing. This training will prepare them for crewed missions to the Tiangong space station in low Earth orbit. Their responsibilities will include conducting scientific experiments aboard the Tiangong station and contributing to China's manned lunar missions.
The mission concept involves two rocket launches, according to Reuters, which cited Chinese state media coverage of the engineer's presentation at a space conference in the city of Wuhan. One of those launches will loft a lunar lander, and the other will send astronauts skyward.
The lander and the crewed spacecraft will rendezvous in lunar orbit. The astronauts will move over to the lander and then head down to the lunar surface, where they'll do a variety of scientific work and collect some moon samples.
The lander will then carry the explorers back up to lunar orbit, where they'll get back onboard their original spacecraft for the trip back to Earth, Reuters reported. It’s unclear how many astronauts will fly on the mission. The lunar landing will not be a one-off, if all goes according to plan for China: The country aims to build a crewed research outpost on the moon in the 2030s, a massive project that features Russia as a partner.
Hong Kong and Macao Represented
Lai Ka-ying, a chief inspector with the Hong Kong Police, is one of the payload specialists. His selection has been celebrated in Hong Kong, with Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu expressing pride in this historic achievement. The second payload expert, from Macao, remains unnamed, but the Macao government has hailed their selection as an honor and a source of encouragement for young people in the region.
The Road Ahead
China's space program continues to evolve rapidly. With plans to put astronauts on the moon before 2030 and the upcoming launch of giant, reusable rockets, the nation is making significant strides in space exploration.
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