China's space crew assesses emergency choices, emotions in long-stay study

BEIJING -- China's Shenzhou XXIII space station crew has completed emergency decision-making assessments and tests on emotional states, as part of a broader effort to study how long-duration spaceflights affect behavior, the country's manned space agency said Monday.

The trio, including one female member from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, have been aboard the Tiangong space station for nearly two months. One of them will stay in orbit for one year to conduct China's first space human research program and collect data on the longer-term flight of astronauts.

In a recent weekly video released by the China Manned Space Agency on Sunday, the crew members were seen wearing sensors and VR headsets for brainwave monitoring.

The tests are among more than 100 science and application projects underway aboard the station. Besides space medicine, the crew has also installed a radiation biology exposure device and an external camera on one of the space station's lab modules, and has conducted cargo tests of measurement instruments. According to the agency, a new type of energy storage battery will be tested in orbit, with results expected to support future upgrades to the space station.

China launched the Shenzhou XXIII crewed spaceship on May 24, with one of the mission's highlights being the one-year in-orbit stay for the crew member. Previous crewed missions to Tiangong have lasted around six months. As the country advances toward its goal of deep-space explorations, long-duration missions are expected to become more frequent, placing increasing demands on the physical and mental resilience of its spacefarers.