First Hong Kong astronaut launches into space onboard Chinese mission

A Hong Kong astronaut has been launched into space for the first time, aboard China's Shenzhou-23 spacecraft. Li Jiaying, a 43-year-old police officer and mother of three, serves as the payload scientist in the three-member crew who made their way to China's Tiangong space station on Sunday night. At least one member of the crew will spend a full year in orbit as part of a key experiment. Authorities will determine who that will be at a later date.The mission is the latest in China's ambitious space program to send humans to the moon by 2030. It comes amid an accelerating race with the US, which is looking to achieve a crewed lunar landing by 2028. The Shenzhou-23 is tasked with studying the effects of microgravity on the human body, among many experiments.Apart from Li, the two other astronauts on the mission are Zhu Yangzhu, a 39-year-old space engineer and Zhang Zhiyuan, a 39-year-old former air force pilot.Getty ImagesChinese astronauts Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan and Li Jiaying are part of the latest mission Large crowds waved Chinese flags as the rocket launched from the north-west Gobi desert on the Long March 2-F rocket at 23:08 local (15:08 GMT) Sunday. A few hours later, it docked on the Tiangong space station.