Why is China sending 4 mice into space?

The next crew heading to China's Tiangong space station includes the country's youngest astronaut, local authorities announced Thursday.

But what is remarkable is that the trip will include 4 mice traveling to space.

Zhang Jingbo , a spokesman for the China Manned Space Agency, said that the mice, two males and two females, would be part of the mission, noting that they would be "the subject of China's first experiments in space on rodents."

Zhang Jingbo explained that the Shenzhou-21 mission is scheduled to launch on Friday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

The Tiangong space station, which hosts a crew of 3 astronauts who rotate every 6 months, is the main station for the Chinese space program.

Engineer Wu Fei, 32, is preparing to become China's youngest astronaut to travel to space.

He told reporters on Thursday: "I feel extremely fortunate. For my dream to become part of the glorious history of the Chinese space program is the greatest opportunity I have been given in this era."

The team will be led by 48-year-old pilot Zhang Lu , who participated in the Shenzhou 15 mission more than two years ago, and 39-year-old Zhang Hongzhang completes the team for this mission.

Commander Zhang Lu expressed his confidence in the team's ability to "successfully deliver a report" on the mission.

China's space program , which is the only one besides those of the United States and Russia (and the former Soviet Union) capable of sending humans into space independently, has successfully landed two probes on the surface of Mars and the Moon.

China has significantly developed its space program over the past three decades. In 2019, a Chinese spacecraft landed on the far side of the moon, a world first. In 2020, China brought back samples from the visible side of the moon and completed the development of the Beidou satellite navigation system.

Beijing remains committed to its goal of sending astronauts to the moon by 2030 and hopes to establish a base there.

The Chinese space agency announced on Thursday that it is "firmly committed" to this goal, and presented a series of "upcoming crucial tests" that are being prepared, including tests on the Lanwei lunar lander and the Mengzhou manned spacecraft.

This Asian giant has invested billions of dollars in its space program to keep pace with the United States and Russia, and to achieve what President Xi Jinping called the "space dream" of the Chinese people.