In an attempt to land humans on the moon before 2030, China deployed its youngest-ever crew to its orbiting space station on Thursday, according to ABC News.
At 11:14 a.m. (0314 GMT), the Long March 2-F rocket carrying the Shenzhou 17 spacecraft took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre, which is located on the border of the Gobi Desert in northwest China.
The three-person crew’s average age is the youngest it has been since the space station construction mission’s launch, according to the China Manned Space Agency, state broadcaster CCTV earlier reported. 38 is their average age, according to state media.
Amidst a competition with the United States to achieve new space milestones, Beijing is pushing on with plans to land astronauts on the moon before the end of the decade. This is a reflection of the rivalry between the two biggest economies in the world for influence in the domains of technology, diplomacy, and the military.
Jiang Xinlin, Tang Shengjie, and Tang Hongbo will take the place of a crew member who has been stationed for six months. Tang is a seasoned veteran who oversaw a three-month space mission in 2021.
During their mission, the new crew will help build and maintain equipment both inside and outside the station, as well as conduct experiments in space technology, space medicine, and other fields, according to the agency.
