China announced Saturday that its Shenzhou 21 spacecraft successfully docked with the country’s space station, completing the process at a record speed with its latest three-member crew.
The docking took about 3.5 hours, roughly three hours faster than previous missions, according to the China Manned Space Agency. Shenzhou 21 lifted off as planned at 11:44 p.m. local time Friday from the Jiuquan launch center in northwestern China. The crew is scheduled to enter the Tianhe core module of the space station following the dock.
The team includes pilot and mission commander Zhang Lu, who previously flew on the Shenzhou 15 mission two years ago. The other two astronauts, Wu Fei, 32, an engineer, and payload specialist Zhang Hongzhang, are on their first spaceflight. Wu is China’s youngest astronaut to join a space mission, while Zhang Hongzhang previously worked as a researcher in new energy and materials.
Zhang Lu said the crew aims to turn the station into a “utopia,” practicing tai-chi, gardening, and appreciating poetry aboard Tiangong. Like prior crews, they are expected to stay for roughly six months.
During their mission, the astronauts will carry out 27 scientific and applied projects covering biotechnology, aerospace medicine, materials science, and other fields.
For the first time, China is sending mice to its space station. Four mice — two males and two females — will be monitored to study the effects of weightlessness and confinement on behavior, said Han Pei, an engineer at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
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“This will help us master key technologies for breeding and monitoring small mammals in space and assess their emergency responses and adaptive changes,” Han said. The mice were selected from 300 candidates after over 60 days of training, according to Xinhua News Agency. They are expected to remain in space for five to seven days and return to Earth aboard Shenzhou 20, China National Radio reported.
China’s space program, a source of national pride, reflects the country’s technological advances over the past two decades. Since launching its first crewed mission in 2003, China became the third nation after the Soviet Union and the United States to send humans into space.
Zhang Jingbo, spokesperson for the China Manned Space Agency, said the agency is progressing steadily toward sending astronauts to the moon. “Our goal of landing a person on the moon by 2030 is firm,” he said.
The Tiangong, or “Heavenly Palace,” space station is entirely Chinese-built, following the country’s exclusion from the International Space Station over U.S. national security concerns. The program is managed by the People’s Liberation Army, the military branch of China’s ruling Communist Party.
In collaboration with Pakistan, China is training two Pakistani astronauts, with plans to send one on a short-term mission as a payload expert — the first visit to the space station by a foreign astronaut.
Source: AP