Astronauts Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang will carry out the Shenzhou-21 crewed spaceflight mission, and Zhang Lu will be the commander, the China Manned Space Agency announced at a press conference on Thursday.

The Shenzhou-21 crewed spaceship is scheduled to be launched at 11.44 pm on Friday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, said Zhang Jingbo, spokesperson of the agency.

The three astronauts are space pilot, flight engineer and payload specialist, respectively, representing the three types of Chinese astronauts in service, he added.

The crew will carry out in-orbit scientific experiments involving mice during their stay on the space station, Jing said.

Four mice – two males and two females – will be transported to the space station aboard Shenzhou-21 and raised in orbit, he added.

Zhang Lu was a crew member of the Shenzhou-15 mission. Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang, both from the third batch of Chinese astronauts, will carry out the spaceflight mission for the first time.

Before being selected as an astronaut, Wu Fei was an engineer at the China Academy of Space Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, and Zhang Hongzhang was a researcher at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. (Xinhua)