Bios of Shenzhou XXI crew

Senior Colonel Zhang Lu, 49, a native of Hunan province, joined the People's Liberation Army Air Force in August 1996. He has a master's degree from Xi'an Jiaotong University.

He was an elite fighter jet pilot at an Air Force training base before being selected as one of seven second-generation astronauts in May 2010.

As a crew member, Zhang participated in the six-month Shenzhou XV mission that began in November 2022. He later received the honorary title of "Heroic Astronaut" and was awarded a Third-grade Space Service Medal for his outstanding performance during that mission.

He is now a first-grade astronaut of the PLA Astronaut Division and commander of the Shenzhou XXI flight mission.

Major Wu Fei, 32, a native of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, graduated with a master's degree from Beihang University, formerly known as the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, in 2017.

He began his career at the China Academy of Space Technology as an engineer and worked there until September 2020, when he was selected as a spaceflight engineer candidate in the third generation of astronauts.

Wu joined the PLA in January 2021 and is now a third-grade astronaut of the PLA Astronaut Division.

Zhang Hongzhang, 39, a native of Shandong province, is a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics in Liaoning province. He holds a doctorate and is a PhD supervisor at the institute.

He began his academic career in July 2013 after graduating from the institute.

In September 2020, he was selected as a mission payload specialist candidate among the third-generation astronauts before beginning his training at the Astronaut Center of China.