China's Shenzhou-21 crew consists of pilot, flight engineer, and payload specialist

China's Shenzhou-21 spaceflight crew consists of three types of astronauts, namely spacecraft pilot, flight engineer, and payload specialist.

This marks the second time that a flight crew has included all three types of astronauts following the Shenzhou-16 mission carried out two years ago.

The three astronauts Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang will be launched at 23:44 Friday (Beijing Time). Zhang Lu, who was a crew member of the Shenzhou-15 mission, will be the commander.

"I will serve as a leader during extravehicular activities. For Wu, he will take on more of the extravehicular operations and some experiments in the Mengtian lab module. As for Zhang Hongzhang, his tasks include plant cultivation and cell experiments. Since his expertise is in electro-chemistry, he will also handle aspects related to electricity, such as work involving batteries. He is both more professional and more meticulous in that field," said Zhang Lu.

With the full completion of China's space station, the country's third batch of astronauts, selected by the end of 2020, was expanded to include new roles beyond spacecraft pilots, adding flight engineers and payload specialists.

Among the 18 new astronauts selected in 2020, there are seven spacecraft pilots, seven flight engineers, and four payload specialists.

In recent years, the China Manned Space Program has seen a growing diversity of roles.

In 2023, Zhu Yangzhu became the first flight engineer to perform a spacewalk on the Shenzhou-16 mission. In 2024, Wang Haoze became China's first female flight engineer on Shenzhou-19.

The Shenzhou-20 mission in 2025 featured Wang Jie as another flight engineer, and now, Shenzhou-21 welcomes its fourth, Wu Fei.

"As a flight engineer, my primary responsibility is to care for, maintain, and upgrade the space station complex which consists of more than ten key subsystems, such as environmental control and life support system, GNC (guidance, navigation and control) system, power and communications, and all of them are vital. Secondly, astronauts face many threats in space. We must firmly master all emergency procedures to safeguard the safety of both the crew and the spacecraft. Thirdly, I'm also responsible for testing new technologies. The technologies and equipment we validate on the space station today will lay a strong foundation for our future missions, to the Moon and even to Mars," said Wu.

In May 2023, astronaut Gui Haichao made history as the country's first payload specialist on Shenzhou-16 mission, conducting extensive space science experiments with his colleagues.

Zhang Hongzhang, now the second of the four third-generation payload specialists to fly, will work closely with teammates and ground research teams to continue scientific research started on Shenzhou-20, while conducting new studies under China's national space laboratory framework.

"As a payload specialist and scientific researcher, my goal is to increase my initiative aboard the space station and improve research efficiency. I hope to carry out more complex studies, so that our scientific work can go further and contribute to faster technological progress," said Zhang Hongzhang.

China's Shenzhou-21 crew consists of pilot, flight engineer, and payload specialist

A Spanish infectious diseases expert on Friday downplayed the risks of large-scale spreading of the deadly hantavirus, citing the current situation and precautionary measures already taken to prevent further outbreaks.

The Dutch-operated, hantavirus-hit expedition cruise ship MV Hondius is currently heading toward Spain's Canary Islands, following a rare outbreak that has resulted in three deaths. At least five cases of hantavirus have been confirmed out of eight suspected cases.

The strain is identified as the Andes virus, which is notable because it is known to spread between humans.

Vicente Soriano, the expert, said the virus can spread relatively easily in confined environments such as cruise ships. However, he added that the Spanish government's decision to bring the vessel to the Canary Islands and impose strict quarantine measures upon arrival is currently the best way to control its spread.

Health authorities in the Canary Islands have been placed on standby and have designated specific medical reception areas.

"It is difficult to predict what will happen after they arrive in the Canary Islands, or how many people are infected. But what we do know is that this is not expected to trigger an emergency outbreak. Among the few cases, there may be some asymptomatic individuals, and what will need to be done then is to place them in isolation," said Soriano.

Soriano believes it is unlikely that the outbreak will escalate to a state of emergency, as hantavirus is not entirely unknown and infection typically requires close contact with patients showing severe symptoms. Once cases are identified, they should be promptly isolated to effectively prevent the virus from spreading.

"The confirmed patients have already been evacuated and sent back to their home countries. Asymptomatic individuals will be taken to medical centers or hotels for nasal swab and blood tests. If they remain in good health after one week, with no fever and normal test results, they will be sent back to their places of residence in Spain or their countries of origin. I believe these measures are the right approach to prevent further spread of the outbreak and to bring it under control," he said.

Hantavirus is primarily transmitted to humans through contact with infected rodents such as rats and mice. Infection can occur through inhaling contaminated dust, touching contaminated surfaces, or exposure to rodent droppings. In rare cases, certain strains, such as the Andes virus, can spread between humans through close contact.

Large-scale hantavirus outbreaks unlikely: expert