The press conference for the Shenzhou 21 manned flight mission was held on the morning of the 30th at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
The spokesperson introduced that after thorough study by the mission command headquarters, the Shenzhou 21 manned spacecraft will be launched at 11:44 PM Malaysia time on October 31. The astronauts (taikonauts) executing the Shenzhou 21 manned flight mission are Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, and Zhang Hongzhang, with Zhang Lu serving as commander. Wu Fei is set to become the youngest Chinese astronaut to participate in a space mission to date.
The three astronauts undertaking the Shenzhou 21 manned flight mission—Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, and Zhang Hongzhang—serve as space pilot, flight engineer, and payload specialist respectively, covering all three types of active astronaut roles in China.
Zhang Lu previously participated in the Shenzhou 15 manned flight mission. Both Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang are from the third batch of astronauts and are carrying out a space mission for the first time. Before selection, Wu Fei was an engineer at the China Academy of Space Technology under China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, and Zhang Hongzhang was a researcher at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.