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Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
JIUQUAN, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) — China successfully launched the Shenzhou-21 manned spacecraft on Friday, sending three astronauts to its Tiangong orbital space station for a six-month mission.
The spacecraft, atop a Long March 2F launch vehicle, lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.
The Shenzhou-21 crew consists of mission commander pilot Zhang Lu, flight engineer Wu Fei, and payload specialist Zhang Hongzhang – all three categories of Chinese astronauts currently used in the country's space program.
Zhang Lu was also a member of the Shenzhou-15 mission, while this will be the first flight for Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang.
MICE IN SPACE
It is noteworthy that four mice were sent into space along with the Shenzhou-21 crew.
The rodents, two males and two females, will be transported to China's space station where they will remain in orbit for five to seven days, marking the country's first space science experiments involving mammals.
Mice are one of the most widely used model organisms in life science research.
According to Huang Kun, an expert from the Space Application Engineering and Technology Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), they have a number of advantages such as high genetic similarity to humans, small body size, short reproductive cycle, and high susceptibility to genetic modification.
“These characteristics make them ideal for studying physiological and pathological processes, as well as the growth, development, and reproduction of living organisms in space,” he noted.
The project, jointly led by the Shanghai Institute of Engineering Physics and the Institute of Zoology at the Academy of Sciences of China, will involve continuous multi-dimensional video monitoring of the mice throughout their stay in orbit.
Lights inside the mice's experimental setup will turn on at 7 a.m. and off at 7 p.m., maintaining the same circadian rhythm as on Earth, explained Li Tianda, a junior researcher at the Institute of Zoology.
The rodents' diet will not only be nutritionally balanced but also relatively firm, reducing the amount of crumbs and satisfying the mice's habit of grinding their teeth. A directed airflow is created inside the experimental device to blow hair, excrement, and other debris into a collection container, providing the animals with a clean and hygienic environment, Li Tianda added.
By collecting preliminary data on stress responses and adaptation mechanisms in microgravity, scientists will be able to use these observations to decipher how weightlessness and confined spaces affect the behavior of mice.
After completing their orbital mission, the "astronaut mice" will return to Earth aboard the Shenzhou 20 spacecraft for further analysis.
“The data obtained will be important for assessing the possibility of long-term human survival and reproduction in space, and will also provide information useful for human health on Earth,” Huang Kun said, noting that the experiment will be a major step forward in developing China’s research capabilities in space life sciences.
Previous animal experiments conducted at the Chinese space lab included zebrafish and fruit flies.
During their stay in orbit, the Shenzhou-21 crew members plan to conduct a total of 27 new orbital experiments, including research in space life sciences and biotechnology, space medicine, space materials science, fluid physics and microgravity combustion, and new space technologies.
Among the planned orbital studies to be conducted during this mission are also the study of the relationship between the origin of genetic codes and chirality, the development of lithium-ion batteries for space applications, and the creation of intelligent computing platforms.
The crew will also conduct a spacewalk and carry out loading and unloading operations, install space debris protection devices, and deploy and retrieve extravehicular payloads and equipment. They will also participate in scientific, educational, and public benefit activities.
The Shenzhou-21 mission is the sixth manned flight since China's Tiangong space station entered the application and development phase, and the 37th flight in China's human spaceflight program. -0-
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