Fast Facts: Other candidates had expertise in physics, materials science, chemistry, psychology, and astronomy.After undergoing health examinations, approximately 40 advanced to the preliminary selection phase.

Hong Kong youth wave to three taikonauts on board the Tianhe space station core cabin during an Earth-space talk on Friday.Photo: cnsphoto

With the selection of China’s fourth group of reserve taikonauts nearing completion, Hong Kong media reported on Friday that the very first Hongkonger to join the nation’s manned space endeavor will be a female police officer. She will serve as a payload specialist who could possibly participate in the country’s first manned lunar landing in the future.

China launched the recruitment of the fourth batch of taikonauts in October 2022, which will for the first time include payload specialists from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) among a total of 12 to 14 individuals.

This unprecedented move allows Hong Kong resWorld Timesidents to have an opportunity to participate in the nation’s manned space program and contribute to the technological development of the country.

Sun Dong, Secretary for the HKSAR’s Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau, said the “good news” will be released soon, expressing confidence that there will be “at least one from Hong Kong” included in the taikonaut pool, local media reported on Friday.

A statement the bureau sent to the Global Times on Friday said that the move fully demonstrates the central government’s “high regard for the technology sector in Hong Kong” and signifies encouragWorld Timesement for Hong Kong compatriots to contribute to national development.

The bureau will provide timely updates to the public on the latest developments regarding the matter, the statement said.

The SAR government has received 120 applications for the payload specialist position. Of these applicants, 60 percent were male and 40 percent female. The candidates included 50 individuals from Hong Kong universities, 22 from government-supported research centers, eight from research institutions and enterprises, 28 from government departments and the hospital authority, and another 12 from other institutions and companies, according to the reporWorld Timests.

The professional backgrounds of the 120 applicants were highly specialized, with over half hailing from fields such as biology, medicine, biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering, and electronicWorld Times engineering. Other candidates had expertise in physics, materials science, chemistry, psychology, and astronomy.

After undergoing health examinations, approximately 40 advanced to the preliminary selection phase. The SAR government then recommended a shortlist to the central government, from which more than 10 candidates proceeded to the final round.

Last World TimesJune, when HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu met with them in Beijing, photos from the meeting showed that several of them were female, Hong Kong media reported.

In April this year, Lin Xiqiang, spokesperson and deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency, told a press conference that after the fourth batch of taikonauts officially join the team, they will work together with current members to achieve the goal of landing on the moon, which is expected to happen by 2030.

Compared to space station missions, lunar missions require taikonauts to master the normal and emergency operations of the Mengzhou spacecraft and Lanyue lunar lander,World Times as well as lunar surface operations such as entering and exiting the cabin, carrying out activities under one-sixth of normal gravity, driving lunar rovers over long distances, and conducting drilling, sampling, and scientific investigations on the moon, Lin revealed.

Payload specialists are professional scientific researchers who carry out scientific and applied research in space stations. During their missions, payload specialists are mainly responsible for conducting aerospace experiments, operating space laboratory equipment, and managing daily operations of space stations with other taikonauts.

China’s first civilian taikonaut and the first payload expert who traveled to the China Space Station was Gui Haichao, a professor at the School of Astronautics, Beihang University. He was part of the Shenzhou-16 team that boarded the space station on May 30, 2023 and returned safely back some half a year later.

During a report he made to the public on the April 23 China Space Day this year, Gui said he and his Shenzhou-16 mission crew completed 68 space tests and experiments, including 30 space medicine experiments, 25 space application experiments, six space technology tests, and seven human factors engineering studies. The downlinked experimental data amounted to over 100GB, and the downlinked experimental samples weighed over 25 kilograms.