Kathmandu, Oct 31: China is preparing to launch its new space mission, Shenzhou-21, on coming Wednesday at 11:44 PM.

According to Chinese media, the launch will take place from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the country’s northwest region.

The mission is headed to the Tiangong space station, where a team of three astronauts will rotate every six months.

Tiangong is China’s largest and most ambitious space project to date, with billions of dollars invested, aiming to surpass the United States and Russia in space achievements.

The mission will include China’s youngest astronaut, Wu Fei, who is only 32 years old. Wu Fei is a flight engineer.

Before departure, he said, “I am extremely happy. Being able to connect my childhood dream with the nation’s space mission is the greatest honor of my life.”

The team leader for this mission is Zhang Lu, who has previous spaceflight experience. The third member is Zhang Hongzhang. Zhang Lu added, “We will make the nation proud with complete success.”

A unique aspect of this mission is that it will also carry four mice—two male and two female—into space. Biological experiments will be conducted on the mice for the first time in orbit, expected to provide new insights into biology and space health.

This mission is seen as another significant step in China’s space ambitions, expected to raise the country’s standing in the space race alongside the United States and Russia.

People’s News Monitoring Service