The three astronauts aboard China’s Tiangong space station sent Mid Autumn Festival greetings to people on Earth on Friday, marking the traditional Chinese holiday from about 400 kilometres above the planet.
Commander Zhu Yangzhu, astronaut Zhang Zhiyuan and payload expert Lai Ka Ying appeared in a video message from orbit, speaking about family, their homeland and the experience of celebrating one of China’s most important traditional festivals while living aboard the country’s space station.
The festival marks the fourth Mid Autumn Festival since the completion of China’s space station. For the crew, the occasion carries an added significance because they are spending a major family holiday far from their homes and thousands of kilometres from the people they normally celebrate with.
Astronauts Mark Festival Four Months Into Mission
The Shenzhou XXIII crew launched aboard their spacecraft on May 24 and entered Tiangong the following day. By the time of the Mid Autumn Festival, the astronauts had spent about four months working in orbit.
Their mission has kept them away from their families during a period traditionally associated with reunion. The Mid Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, is celebrated in China as a time for families to gather and share the full moon.
From Tiangong, however, the astronauts experienced the festival from a very different setting.
Zhu said that although Earth was far away, the crew remained emotionally connected to their homeland and the people of China.
He is making his second space journey and is the first commander selected from China's third batch of astronauts. Friday's celebration was also his second Mid Autumn Festival spent in space.
The experience has given Zhu a direct understanding of what it means to mark the holiday away from home. His message connected the distance between the space station and Earth with the traditional idea of family reunion that sits at the heart of the festival.
Zhang Sends Message to His Family
For Zhang Zhiyuan, the festival carried a different meaning because this is his first spaceflight.
In his message, Zhang spoke directly to his family and described Tiangong as a bright object crossing the night sky.
He told his relatives that if they saw a shining star moving across the night sky, they could think of it as Tiangong and of him looking back from orbit.
The message captured the unusual distance separating the astronaut from his family. While relatives on Earth could look toward the sky and see the space station passing overhead, Zhang was experiencing the festival from inside the station itself.
His remarks also reflected one of the central themes of the Mid Autumn Festival. The holiday is traditionally associated with family members gathering together, sharing food and looking at the full moon. For astronauts in orbit, that familiar celebration takes place against the view of Earth from space.
Lai Ka Ying Reflects on Hong Kong
Lai Ka Ying brought a particular connection to Hong Kong to the crew's festival message.
Lai is the first astronaut from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the first payload expert from the fourth batch of Chinese astronauts to travel into space.
From the station, she said the Mid Autumn Festival felt special because of the distance separating her from the cities and homes below.
Through the station's porthole, Lai said the sight she missed most was the lights of thousands of homes across China. She also spoke about her longing for the full moon shining over Hong Kong.
Her comments connected the experience of living in orbit with memories of home. From the space station, the lights of cities on Earth form part of the view available to the crew, but they also serve as reminders of the people and places left behind during the mission.
Lai said that people separated by thousands of kilometres could still share the beauty of the same moon. For an astronaut looking at Earth from orbit, that traditional image takes on a literal meaning.
The Moon Festival has long been associated with people thinking of family members who cannot be with them. Lai's message brought that idea into the setting of China's space programme.
Tiangong Means Heavenly Palace
China's space station is called Tiangong, a name that means "Heavenly Palace".
The station has become the workplace and home for Chinese astronauts conducting missions in orbit. The Shenzhou XXIII crew has spent four months aboard the station carrying out its mission while continuing the country's programme of human spaceflight.
The Mid Autumn Festival message offered the public a glimpse of life aboard Tiangong beyond the technical work of a space mission.
Instead of focusing solely on experiments or operations, the astronauts spoke about familiar human experiences such as missing relatives, looking at the moon and thinking about home.
That combination of space exploration and traditional culture gave the festival message a wider significance for audiences on Earth.
The timing also came as China's space programme continues to develop a longer term presence in orbit. The Shenzhou XXIII mission represents another crewed mission in the operation of Tiangong, where astronauts continue working for extended periods away from Earth.
A Festival Message From 400 Kilometres Above Earth
The distance between the astronauts and their families was made visible by the setting of the message itself.
At roughly 400 kilometres above Earth, the crew delivered their greetings from the space station while the festival was being celebrated below.
The traditional meaning of the Mid Autumn Festival centres on reunion and happiness under the full moon. The astronauts could not gather physically with their families, but they used the video message to share the occasion with people on Earth.
Zhu, Zhang and Lai each approached the festival from their own perspective. Zhu spoke about his second journey into space and the connection between the crew and their homeland. Zhang spoke directly to his family during his first spaceflight. Lai reflected on Hong Kong and the lights of homes across China.
Their messages were different, but they returned to the same idea: distance does not remove the connection between people celebrating the same occasion.
Shenzhou XXIII Crew Sends Final Wishes
The astronauts ended their message with wishes for China and for families celebrating the festival on Earth.
They wished for their country to remain prosperous and strong and for its people to live in peace. They also wished everyone a happy Mid Autumn Festival and happiness for their families.
For the Shenzhou XXIII crew, this year's festival was marked from a place few people will ever experience firsthand. Their homes were far below, while the full Earth remained visible beyond the station's windows.
The astronauts' four month stay in orbit has separated them from the traditional family gathering, but their message brought their voices back to Earth for the holiday.
As families across China look toward the full moon, the Shenzhou XXIII crew will continue their work aboard Tiangong, carrying out their mission hundreds of kilometres above the planet.
How would you celebrate the Mid Autumn Festival if your home were 400 kilometres below you?