China set to send its youngest astronaut, mice on space mission this week; aims for crewed Moon landing by 2030

China is all set to send a manned flight to the Tiangong space station with its youngest-ever astronaut and four lab mice on Friday, October 31, to undertake a space mission.

The Shenzhou-21 mission is set to blast off at local time 11:44 PM on Friday (9:14 PM IST) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China, said China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) spokesperson Zhang Jingbo.

The Tiangong space station will be crewed by teams of three astronauts who are exchanged every six months.

This crew will be led by veteran space pilot Zhang Lu, who took part in the Shenzhou-15 mission more than two years ago.

Lu will lead payload specialist Zhang Hongzhang and flight engineer Wu Fei on their first space flight. Wu, who has just turned 32, is set to become the youngest Chinese astronaut to undertake a space mission to date, authorities said.

The astronauts will also take along four lab mice, two male and two female, which will be the subjects of China's first in-orbit experiments on rodents, said CMSA spokesperson Jingbo.

They will study the effects of weightlessness and confinement on the animals.

“Our fixed goal of China landing a person on the moon by 2030 is firm,” the CMSA said, and outlined a series of “crucial upcoming tests” it was undertaking in preparation, including testing its Lanyue lunar lander and Mengzhou manned spacecraft.

“Currently, each programme of the research and development work of putting a person on the moon is progressing smoothly,” he said, citing the Long March 10 rocket, moon landing suits and exploration vehicle, as fruitful efforts of that work.

The country has invested billions of dollars in it in an effort to catch up with the United States and Russia, following its exclusion from the International Space Station due to US national security concerns over the Chinese space programme's direct link to the People's Liberation Army.

(With agency inputs)