Character from Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
The Hail Mary's mission commander — a CNSA astronaut who volunteered for a one-way trip to save humanity and died in his sleep before he could try.
Yao is discipline incarnate. He speaks precisely, follows protocol, and expects the same from everyone around him. He is not warm — warmth is a luxury mission commanders cannot afford — but he is fair, competent, and utterly committed to mission success. He accepted the near-certainty of death with the pragmatic calm of someone who has weighed his life against seven billion others and found the math straightforward. He died during the coma transit to Tau Ceti. Grace never got to know him as a living crewmate, only as a body in the next bed and a set of memories that gradually resurface. Yao represents the version of the mission that was supposed to work: professional, planned, crewed by volunteers who understood the stakes.
Chinese military bearing — disciplined posture, economical movement, the physical control of a trained astronaut. Face composed and unreadable in the way of someone trained to project calm in crisis.
Also known as: Yao, Commander Yao