Lai Ka-ying’s selection as Hong Kong’s first astronaut has sparked a more than threefold surge in aerospace and satellite-design course inquiries at a learning centre, while industry leaders have called for sites to be refitted as immersive education facilities. Lai, a police superintendent who has also become China’s first female payload specialist, made her historic journey into space on Sunday with the launch of the Shenzhou-23 mission. Jeffrey Ho, CEO of Star Club Scientist Education, said...
Hong Kong should harness the excitement sparked by the city’s first astronaut to set up a dedicated office to foster local aerospace technology and development, experts and a top government adviser have said. Professor Zhang Peng, programme leader for aerospace engineering at City University, urged the government to expand funding for programmes, create dedicated internships and establish a local aerospace technology hub to build on the momentum from Sunday’s historic flight involving home-grown...
Leaving her family behind is the toughest part for Hong Kong’s first astronaut as she blasted off on Sunday for her six-month mission, according to her elder sister. Lai Ka-man recalled that when her sister, 43-year-old Hong Kong police superintendent Lai Ka-ying, was selected as a payload specialist in 2024, Ka-ying’s three children were still in primary school. They were now being cared for by both sets of grandparents and other family members. “When I saw my sister recently, I saw in her eyes...
China’s latest space mission, which includes Hong Kong’s first astronaut, lifted off on Sunday night. The Long March-2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwestern China’s Gansu province at 11.08pm local time on Sunday, according to the China Manned Space Agency. The rocket left the launchpad with a deafening blast and sent massive clouds of sand high up into the sky. Mission control declared the launch a success about 20...
Hongkongers gathered to witness the historic launch of the Shenzhou-23 mission hailed the city’s first astronaut, Lai Ka-ying, as an “immense encouragement” as they watched the send-off ceremony for the crew in Jiuquan on Sunday night. Astronauts Lai, Zhu Yangzhu and Zhang Zhiyuan were met with cheers at the Wentian Pavilion in China’s Dongfeng Aerospace City in Gansu province before they headed to the launch site in the Gobi Desert. Lai, a 43-year-old police superintendent and a mother of...
Lai Ka-ying suffers from motion sickness, cannot stand hot weather, was not a top student and did not speak Mandarin – all of which made the 43-year-old mother of three an unlikely pick as Hong Kong’s first astronaut. But the Hong Kong-born payload specialist on China’s Shenzhou-23 mission, which is expected to blast off on Sunday night and head to the Tiangong space station, made it through almost two years of training. “I held a ‘let’s give it a try’ attitude,” Lai said in interviews with...
If you are working on a space station orbiting hundreds of kilometres above the Earth, the woman set to become Hong Kong’s first astronaut when the mission launches this weekend is exactly the type of person you want by your side, according to the professor who supervised her postgraduate studies. Lai Ka-ying was meticulous, patient and a skilled communicator who could break down highly technical ideas for others, Chow Kam-pui, an honorary associate professor at the University of Hong Kong, told...
Hong Kong will send its first astronaut to the Tiangong space station, the China Manned Space Agency announced on Saturday. Lai Ka-ying, a police chief inspector and tech expert with a doctorate in computer science, will join the Shenzhou-23 mission as a payload specialist. She will become the fourth female astronaut to enter the Chinese space station. The Shenzhou-23 crewed spacecraft is targeting a launch at 23:08 tomorrow. According to the agency, she will work alongside astronauts Zhu...