The honor goes to a teacher. China will send a civilian astronaut into space on Tuesday for the first time in its history for a manned mission to the space station Tiangong with the goal of sending a crew to the Moon by 2030.
Gui Haichao, a professor at Beihang University, will lead scientific experiments during the mission, Lin Xiqiang, spokesperson for China’s Human Spaceflight Agency, told reporters on Monday.
The astronaut will conduct “large-scale in-orbit experiments” to study “new quantum phenomena, high-precision time-frequency space systems, verification of general relativity, and the origin of life,” the astronaut said. spokesperson.
His participation in the flight “is particularly significant,” independent expert Chen Lan told AFP, given that previous missions had only embarked astronauts trained as pilots and responsible for more technical tasks, and not specialized scientists. “It means that from this mission, China opens the door to space for ordinary citizens,” he said.
Until now, all Chinese astronauts who have taken off into space have been part of the People’s Liberation Army.
Gui Haichao is scheduled to take off from the Jiuquan launch base in northwest China on Tuesday at 9:31 a.m. local time, the space agency said.
The civilian astronaut will fly in orbit alongside Shenzhou-16 mission commander Jing Haipeng – who is on his fourth flight, according to state media – and engineer Zhu Yangzhu. They will stay for about five months at the station.
Projects linked to the Chinese “space dream” are multiplying under the presidency of Xi Jinping. The Asian giant has been investing billions of euros in its military-led space program for several decades, which has enabled it to make up most of its delay against the Americans and the Russians.
China sent its first astronaut into space in 2003, and its space station Tiangong (Heavenly Palace) has been fully operational since late 2022. In 2019, a Chinese craft landed on the far side of the Moon. Then, in 2021, China brought a small robot to the surface of Mars.
It plans to send a first crew to the Moon by 2030 where Beijing wants to establish a base.