Pilot Astronaut explores the experiences of Chinese mothers who migrated to the west between the 1970s and 1990s. These mothers migrated with their children while the fathers supported from Asia. Describing them as “astronauts”, sociologists distinguish these migrants from those earlier when men migrated alone. Astronaut migrants also differ from families that uprooted (or intended to) as a unit. The political landscape in Hong Kong and Taiwan prompted families to move for stability and education at a time when western governments promoted trade missions to attract Asian investors. Overwhelmingly, the astronaut strategy was for the benefit of the children.
On one hand, astronaut mothers were privileged transnational women with secured and abundant futures. On the other, they became single parents overnight. Bound by Confucius familism and cultural barriers, astronaut mothers navigated their predicament, tending mainly to their children but living mostly lonely lives. Despite a perceived good fortune, astronaut mothers were often drained from marital breakdowns, isolated in new surroundings, and severed from old connections.
Contrary to conventional astronaut families whose fathers flew back and forth, my mother, siblings, and I spent summers in Hong Kong reuniting mostly with an empty apartment. As a point of departure for this series, I recall a bazaar incident when Mother insisted on carrying live goldfish back to Canada. A baffling idea then but in hindsight, she was perhaps longing to find home. Strangely, Mother never met another astronaut family. Being an early astronaut herself, she was akin to a pilot project for later migrants. Her loneliness gradually deteriorated into severe depression, but there was also a sense of agency linked to freedom and achievements through her children. Marking 2025 as the 50th anniversary of International Women’s Year, this project celebrates early astronaut mothers, their strength, and their humanity.