China is sending astronauts – and mice – on its latest space station mission

News Snapshot:

JIUQUAN, China (AP) — China said Saturday that it successfully launched the Shenzhou-21 spaceship on a mission to the country’s orbiting space station, sending its newest rotation of three astronauts — along with four mice. The Shenzhou-21 spaceship took off as planned at 11:44 p.m. local time Friday from the Jiuquan launch center in northwestern China. The crew includes pilot and mission commander Zhang Lu, who also was on the Shenzhou-15 mission to the space station two years ago. The other two are flying for the first time. Wu Fei, 32, an engineer, is the country’s youngest astronaut to join...