The Star Chart Is Spread, the Brush Poised to Write; the Bauhinia Will Bloom in the "China Palace" — A Record of the Shenzhou-23 Astronaut Crew
The Star Chart Is Spread, the Brush Poised to Write; the Bauhinia Will Bloom in the "China Palace" — A Record of the Shenzhou-23 Astronaut Crew
In early summer along the Ruoshui River, the poplar forests have just turned fresh green. Deep in the heart of the Badain Jaran Desert, the launch tower stands in silence, awaiting a new group of heroes about to set out on their mission.
At 11:00 on May 23, the Shenzhou-23 astronaut crew made their first public appearance at the Wentian Pavilion of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center —
The crew is commanded by spaceflight engineer Zhu Yangzhu, who is making his second spaceflight and is the first mission commander from China's third cohort of astronauts. Spacecraft pilot Zhang Zhiyuan is also from the third cohort. Payload specialist Lai Jiaying, who comes from Hong Kong, is China's first fourth-cohort astronaut to fly in space; both will be embarking on their first journey to space.
By decision of the mission's general command, China is targeting a launch of the Shenzhou-23 crewed spacecraft at 23:08 Beijing Time on May 24.
The first crew composed of third- and fourth-cohort astronauts; the first fourth-cohort astronaut to fly in space; the first time an astronaut from Hong Kong has flown; the first time a crew member is executing a one-year-duration mission… Each of these "firsts" is like a weighty key, placed into Zhu Yangzhu's hands.
This is the second time Zhu Yangzhu has stood at the Wentian Pavilion to take questions from Chinese and foreign reporters, and the first time he has led a crew into the mission as commander.
In 2020, Zhu Yangzhu — then an associate professor at a university — passed a rigorous selection process to become a member of China's third cohort of astronauts. In 2023, he traveled to space aboard the Shenzhou-16 crewed spacecraft, fulfilling his dream of a first spaceflight.
On July 20 of that year, the Shenzhou-16 crew conducted their first extravehicular activity. Zhu Yangzhu, dressed in an extravehicular spacesuit, stepped out into the depths of space and performed approximately eight hours of high-intensity extravehicular operations, becoming China's first spaceflight engineer to carry out an extravehicular mission.
Two months later, Zhu Yangzhu transformed into a "space teacher," demonstrating alongside his crewmates the spherical flame experiment, the remarkable "ping-pong ball" experiment, the conservation of momentum experiment, and the gyroscope experiment, delivering a spectacular popular science lesson from space for young people.
After returning to Earth, Zhu Yangzhu was awarded the honorary title of "Heroic Astronaut" and the "Third-Class Space Meritorious Service Medal."
"Returning from space is not the end — it is a new beginning." He set aside his honors, reset everything to zero, and threw himself into new training and preparation.
In 2025, China organized its first astronaut cave training exercise, and Zhu Yangzhu was in the first group of participants.
Deep inside a natural cave — dark, damp, and confined — he suggested to his teammates that they briefly switch off their headlamps together.
"The instant the light disappeared, boundless darkness pressed down on us. It felt exactly like an extravehicular excursion in space, with the profound universe all around and only one's heartbeat and breathing to prove one's existence," Zhu Yangzhu said.
After being appointed commander of the Shenzhou-23 crew, he thought not only about how to make himself stronger, but also about how to make three people function as one. Zhu Yangzhu summed it up this way: train coordination, train habits, train tacit understanding — think with one mind and exert effort in one direction; this is "1+1+1=1." Push each person's strengths to their fullest expression so that the collective force far exceeds the simple sum of the individuals; this is "1+1+1>3."
At the beginning of this year, the crew participated in a two-week full-mission flight procedure simulation exercise. Inside a 1:1 scale space station combination test module, the three of them conducted a fully enclosed drill in complete accordance with the rhythm of work in space — eating, sleeping, and working all strictly following on-orbit procedures.
"Whenever someone had work assigned to them, someone else always stepped in to lend a hand; whenever there was an operational detail, someone always offered a timely reminder; during breaks in training, we always encouraged each other," Zhu Yangzhu said. "There is no distinction between 'your work' and 'my work' — only 'our mission.'"
At the press conference, Zhu Yangzhu spoke on behalf of the crew with confidence before Chinese and foreign reporters: "We will absolutely act as one crew, unite heaven and ground as one, exert our efforts in the same direction and sustain them without letup, focus on every task with full readiness and to the highest standard, and accomplish with full success the glorious mission entrusted to us by the Party and the people."
Zhang Zhiyuan was born in 1986 on the banks of the Yellow River. His parents were local teachers — educating students on weekdays and working the fields on weekends.
That year, the Air Force came to his school to recruit pilots. Recalling the roar of fighter jets streaking across the sky during the 1999 National Day parade, Zhang Zhiyuan signed up without hesitation.
Perhaps owing to the foundation built by swimming in the Yellow River and running through the fields since childhood, he sailed through the initial and secondary selection rounds and fulfilled his wish of becoming a flight cadet.
The day of his first flight finally arrived. His instructor took him soaring into the clouds — climbing, diving, rolling. He had no time to savor the romance of flight; his mind was racing to record the key points of every procedure, every set of data.
"The moment I truly experienced the joy of flying was my first solo flight," Zhang Zhiyuan said, tracing the route with his hands, recalling the clouds churning beneath his feet and the mountains and rivers spreading out under his wings. "That vastness, that freedom — it is a romance that belongs exclusively to fighter pilots."
After graduation, he left Changchun in Jilin and headed to the northwest of the motherland. There, he transitioned to new aircraft types, participated in combat-realistic exercises, and carried out diverse missions, accumulating more than 1,200 flight hours.
When news came that China was selecting its third cohort of astronauts, Zhang Zhiyuan signed up without hesitation. Medical examinations, psychological tests, the centrifuge… He passed through one gate after another and entered the astronaut corps.
Aerodynamics, thermodynamics, the design principles of rockets and spacecraft, flight vehicle attitude control… Thick textbook after thick textbook was placed before him. He gritted his teeth and started from scratch — asking instructors and teammates when he didn't understand, consulting references — and forced his way through one "checkpoint" after another.
"In truth, the hardest part was not the study and training," Zhang Zhiyuan paused. "It was how to face not being selected."
From the day one becomes an astronaut, who does not yearn to fly to space as soon as possible? Starting with the Shenzhou-16 mission, astronauts from the same cohort successively realized their dreams of reaching the heavens, yet Zhang Zhiyuan missed the chance to fly time and again.
"Looking back today, at the time I did not have a deep enough understanding of the patterns governing crewed spaceflight missions," he said.
After years of aerial flight, Zhang Zhiyuan was accustomed to completing all maneuvers in the shortest time possible. But crewed spaceflight is different — it places greater emphasis on steadiness, on precision, on absolute certainty.
"For example, in underwater training, the heavy underwater suit constrains you, and if you simply pursue speed, your physical strength is depleted very quickly," he said.
When he learned he had been selected for the Shenzhou-23 crew, Zhang Zhiyuan felt both excited and calm in that moment: "I will absolutely cherish this rare opportunity to fly, temper my will, and deepen myself."
The Yellow River — the place of his birth — holds the hometown he has long been separated from, and the parents he holds dear.
Born, schooled, employed, married, and raising a child — Lai Jiaying's life had always revolved around Hong Kong. It was not until 2024 that she embarked on one of the rare long journeys of her life.
"I miss the road at the entrance to my home, lined with blooming bauhinia flowers." During breaks in training, she often thought of home — of that small path she had walked countless times.
Lai Jiaying was born in November, precisely the season when bauhinia flowers bloom. The bauhinia just beginning to open along the roadside became woven from that point on into the fabric of her life.
In 2001, she was admitted to the computer science program at the University of Hong Kong. After graduation, she joined the Technology Services Division of the Hong Kong Police Force, specializing in electronic forensics and cybersecurity.
In one case, critical surveillance footage had been almost entirely destroyed. She and her colleagues worked day and night, restoring the data frame by frame and segment by segment, ultimately recovering the erased truth and bringing the suspect to justice.
"The police force tempered my will and cultivated in me the qualities of perseverance, fearlessness in the face of difficulty, and careful attentiveness," Lai Jiaying said candidly. That experience, she noted, planted the earliest seeds that would one day make her a qualified astronaut.
When she first arrived on the mainland, language was the first barrier. Her Mandarin, accented at first, was halting and stumbling; with the company of instructors and teammates, she practiced word by word and sentence by sentence, improving day by day, and gradually felt the warmth of a family within the collective.
Pressurization training in the intravehicular spacesuit once put her through considerable hardship. "During training, the intravehicular spacesuit has to be pressurized, and before you have mastered the technique, your ears are extremely uncomfortable," Lai Jiaying said.
Surviving six days and five nights in a dark, narrow cave; trekking through jungle teeming with snakes and insects… Every item was a dual extreme test of body and mind.
"No matter how difficult something is, it will 'reach its end.' My heart is full of gratitude and a sense of honor, and I feel deeply the glory of the mission and the weight of the responsibility," she said. She expressed sincere thanks to the motherland for providing astronauts with a career platform and a stage on which to realize their dreams, and also heartfelt thanks to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government and her fellow Hong Kong citizens for their wholehearted support.
She wants to look through the porthole at the prosperous and thriving motherland, to see the outline of her hometown, to see whether the stars truly "arrange themselves into a river"… Lai Jiaying is filled with anticipation for the space journey that lies ahead. During her on-orbit stay, she will be primarily responsible for space science experiments and daily life support tasks.
"I will give everything I have, shoulder the mission of a spacefarer, live up to the expectations of Hong Kong citizens, and even more so live up to the trust placed in me by the motherland," Lai Jiaying said. Flying to space is not only a personal dream — it is also a vivid testament to Hong Kong and the motherland moving forward with one heart and in one direction. (Li Guoli, Zhan Kang, Liu Yi, Huang Yichen)