Cheers, pride as Hong Kong’s first astronaut heads off on mission
Hongkongers celebrate as trailblazer Lai Ka-ying heads to Tiangong space station in Shenzhou-23 spacecraft
An electric atmosphere swept from the edge of the Gobi Desert to Hong Kong on Sunday night, as thrilled residents erupted into cheers to celebrate the historic launch of the Shenzhou-23 space mission featuring the city’s first astronaut, Lai Ka-ying.
Lai, a police superintendent and a mother of three, is serving as the payload specialist for the mission.
At a Wong Chuk Hang student dorm of the University of Hong Kong, where Lai, 43, completed her doctoral degree in computer science, more than 50 students, staff and alumni gathered ahead of lift-off to witness the moment.
Chanting university slogans, they waved national and Hong Kong flags, cheering as the Long March-2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft cleared the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Gansu province in northwestern mainland China.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Lai is the fourth Chinese woman to go into space and the country’s first female payload specialist. The three-member crew on the mission was expected to take 3½ hours to reach the Tiangong space station.