Lai Ka-ying, Hong Kong's first astronaut, is set to join China's Shenzhou-23 mission despite facing motion sickness and language barriers. Her determination and 'let's give it a try' attitude propelled her through rigorous training.

Lai Ka-ying suffers from motion sickness, cannot stand hot weather, was not a top student and did not speak Mandarin – all of which made the 43-year-old mother of three an unlikely pick as Hong Kong’s first astronaut. But the Hong Kong-born payload specialist on China’s Shenzhou-23 mission, which is expected to blast off on Sunday night and head to the Tiangong space station, made it through almost two years of training. “I held a ‘let’s give it a try’ attitude,” Lai said in interviews with...