【By Observer Net, Yuan Jiaqi】

At 4:58 a.m. Beijing Time on November 1, China completed its seventh "space rendezvous" in history — the Shenzhou-21 crew smoothly entered the Tiangong space station, and once again, a brand new space family photo was released.

Using an autonomous rapid docking mode, this docking took only 3.5 hours. This speed has amazed the Associated Press, which said, "This is the fastest docking record in China's independent space history, shortening the time by three hours compared to previous missions."

Media outlets such as Reuters and CBS have also focused on multiple highlights of this mission: the crew not only includes the youngest Chinese astronauts in history, but also achieved a breakthrough in the Chinese space program — for the first time, living mammals were carried into space.

According to the official website of China's manned spaceflight program, Chinese astronauts are mainly divided into three categories: spacecraft pilots, aerospace flight engineers, and payload specialists.

Following the Shenzhou-16 mission, the Shenzhou-21 crew once again gathered all three types of positions, and simultaneously achieved full coverage of the "70s", "80s", and "90s" generations.

Reuters further observed that China's space program is accelerating the construction of a younger astronaut team, with the proportion of new members continuously increasing.

In this crew, Commander Zhang Lu, 48 years old, who is also the spacecraft pilot, has experience from the Shenzhou-15 mission in 2022. Zhang Hongzhang, 39 years old, and Wu Fei, 32 years old, both serving as payload specialists and aerospace flight engineers respectively, are making their first space trip, having been selected for this mission in 2020.

Among them, Wu Fei, born in 1993, is currently the youngest Chinese astronaut to carry out a space mission. Before joining the mission, he worked as an engineer at the China Academy of Space Technology, participating in the development and verification of various spacecraft for manned spaceflight, lunar and deep-space exploration. Zhang Hongzhang, before being selected, was a researcher at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, focusing on energy storage, new energy, and new materials. He will conduct power-related scientific research on the space station.

The Shenzhou-20 crew welcomed the Shenzhou-21 crew back to the Tiangong space station.

British media noted that the Shenzhou series spacecraft have formed a routine rhythm of launching every six months.

Moreover, in the past year, China's space program has achieved multiple new milestones: 90s-born astronauts made their first mission, completed world-record-breaking spacewalks, and plans to train and send the first foreign astronaut (from Pakistan) to Tiangong next year.

CBS emphasized that the scientific research and construction of China's space station are complementary and supportive to the country's goal of becoming the first nation in over 40 years to achieve human moon landing.

China's official has clearly stated the goal of sending astronauts to the moon by 2030, with the ultimate plan to build a lunar base. Previously, China has successfully carried out multiple unmanned lunar exploration missions, including the first soft landing on the far side of the moon and sample collection last year.

On the eve of the Shenzhou-21 launch, at a press conference (October 30), Zhang Jingbo, spokesperson for the China Manned Space Program and director of the Comprehensive Planning Department of the China Manned Space Engineering Office, revealed that the current work on the manned lunar mission is progressing smoothly, emphasizing that the goal of Chinese astronauts landing on the moon by 2030 remains firm.

Regarding this statement, CBS interpreted it as indicating that China's lunar exploration plan is "progressing steadily according to schedule."

From left to right: Zhang Hongzhang, Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, Wang Jie

American panic: Space, Blue Origin submitted PLAN B

By contrast, the American lunar plan is filled with uncertainties and severe delays. Reuters directly pointed out, "China's rapid progress has already sounded the alarm in Washington, and the United States is now racing against time to send astronauts to the moon before China."

The U.S. announced the "Artemis" lunar program in 2019 and conducted the uncrewed circumlunar flight test mission "Artemis I" in November 2022. However, due to multiple technological developments lagging behind the planned timeline, the crewed circumlunar mission "Artemis II" and the crewed lunar landing mission "Artemis III" have been repeatedly delayed.

In 2021, SpaceX won a $2.9 billion contract from NASA to develop and manufacture the lunar lander for the "Artemis III" mission. This mission will achieve the first U.S. crewed moon landing in more than half a century.

However, earlier this month, Sean Duffy, the transportation secretary who is currently managing NASA, said in an interview that SpaceX's lunar landing system construction is behind schedule, and NASA will re-open bidding to competitors such as Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos' company.

This statement triggered a quarrel between Musk and Duffy, with both sides exchanging words. A NASA spokesperson responded that Duffy's core demand is "ensuring the United States returns to the moon before China."

Musk and Duffy, picture source

After Duffy said, "We will witness a space race among U.S. companies, seeing who can first bring us back to the moon," according to reports by The New York Times and other U.S. media on October 31, SpaceX and Blue Origin have submitted Plan B to NASA for accelerating the development of the lunar lander. NASA experts are evaluating it.

SpaceX also stated on its website that in response to "recent requirements from NASA," it has submitted a "streamlined mission architecture and concept of operations." U.S. media pointed out that this "shorter duration" plan is an adjustment plan that SpaceX has launched under NASA's pressure.

However, the Trump administration's "staff reduction" plan and the U.S. government shutdown have further undermined the Artemis program. It is estimated that 83% of NASA's employees, including contractors, are forced to take leave.

Behind Duffy's sudden move, there is actually his own hidden agenda.

The Wall Street Journal mentioned that Duffy is eager to "officially" become the head of NASA and is currently competing with tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman for the position of NASA administrator.

Isaacman, who is closely related to Musk, is a key customer of SpaceX's emerging commercial space business. He has traveled to space twice in SpaceX's spacecraft and spent hundreds of millions of dollars on it.

After Trump returned to the White House, he originally nominated Isaacman to be the NASA administrator, but later canceled the nomination. In July this year, Trump appointed Transportation Secretary Duffy as NASA's acting administrator. According to reports, Duffy even intends to place NASA under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation.

"I'm going to space!"

Compared to the noise and chaos of the U.S. space program, China's lunar exploration program has progressed steadily and smoothly, with the manned lunar landing development advancing steadily. It has conducted multiple lunar orbiting detection and sampling missions, laying the foundation for the first Chinese landing on the moon by 2030.

The Associated Press commented that China's space industry is a great pride for the entire Chinese people and a clear symbol of national technological progress over the past two decades.

According to Xinhua News Agency, in the future, the two astronaut crews will conduct in-orbit rotation. The Shenzhou-21 crew will stay in the space station for about six months, carrying out space science and application work, implementing extravehicular activities and cargo transfer, installing space debris protection devices, installing and retrieving external payloads and external facilities, conducting science popularization education and public welfare activities, and space carrying experiments, continuously playing the comprehensive application benefits of the space station.

It is introduced that during the crew's stay in orbit, they will carry out 27 new scientific and application projects, mainly focusing on key scientific issues in multiple fields such as space life sciences and biotechnology, aerospace medicine, space materials science, microgravity fluid physics and combustion, and aerospace new technologies, conducting in-depth systematic research.

Among them, the first in-orbit implementation of domestic rodent space science experiments will be conducted, using four mice (two females and two males) sent up with the spacecraft for in-orbit breeding, focusing on studying the effects of weightlessness and enclosed environments on mouse behavior patterns.

After rigorous screening, the "chosen mice" from 300 to 4

Later, they will return to Earth with the spacecraft for further scientific research, exploring the stress response and adaptability of multiple tissue organs of mice in the space environment. During the mission, the project on the origin of genetic code in space environment and the relationship between chirality will be conducted, exploring the selectivity of different chiral combinations of amino acids and nucleosides, and discussing the impact of molecular chirality and gravity environment on the origin of homochirality of biological molecules.

In addition, the Shenzhou-21 also carried out onboard experiments such as lithium-ion battery electrochemical optical in-situ research for space applications and the in-orbit intelligent computing platform experiment of the space station, which will provide the basis for subsequent scientific research and further lay the foundation for in-orbit applications.

U.S. media mentioned that the U.S. and China are also competing in the field of emerging space mechanisms: the U.S. has gathered many countries to sign the Artemis Accords, trying to confirm the legality of its lunar resource mining, establish a so-called "safe zone" and "prevent competitors like China and Russia from challenging."

While China's International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) adheres to the principles of "peaceful use, equality, mutual benefit, and common development" to carry out multilateral cooperation, 17 countries and international organizations, and more than 50 international research institutions have joined. Last month, another 10 global partners signed agreements.

Previously, Director of the China National Space Administration, Shan Zhongde, stated that China's lunar exploration program has always adhered to the principles of equality, peaceful use, and win-win cooperation, sharing development achievements with the international community. China will continue to open up international applications for lunar research samples and expects scientists around the world to gain more scientific discoveries, jointly expanding human cognition and benefiting humanity.

This article is an exclusive article by Observer Net. Without permission, it cannot be reprinted.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7567709507757851179/

Statement: The article represents the views of the author. Please express your opinion by clicking the [Up/Down] button below.