Three Chinese Astronauts and Four Mice Are Working in Orbit 0 7

The crew of the Chinese spacecraft "Shenzhou-21" has delivered mice to the space station for scientific research.

As stated at a press conference by CMSA spokesperson Zhang Jingbo, two male and two female mice were sent into space. The research will focus on studying the impact of conditions such as near-zero gravity and confined space on the behavior of these animals.

According to Zhang, the experiments involving the mice will last five to seven days. He noted that the rodents were selected after more than 60 days of intensive physical training and cognitive ability exercises.

After the experiment, the mice will be returned to Earth aboard the spacecraft. Additional scientific studies will be conducted to examine the stress response and adaptive changes in various tissues and organs of the mice in the space environment. The CMSA noted that the experiment with mice will be one of the key elements among a series of new projects in orbit.

This will be the first space experiment involving mammalian rodents. Previously, experiments involving fruit flies and zebrafish were conducted in the Chinese space laboratory.

The crewed spacecraft "Shenzhou-21" launched from the Jiuquan launch site in northwest China. Astronauts Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, and Zhang Hongzhang went into orbit.

During this mission, the taikonauts will conduct 27 experiments in orbit. They cover areas such as space life sciences and biotechnology, space medicine, space materials science, microgravity fluid physics and combustion, as well as new space technologies.