Beijing: A video of four mice living aboard China’s space station alongside the Shenzhou XXI astronaut crew has recently been transmitted back to Earth, showing the small animals in good spirits and seemingly in a healthy state.
The footage shows astronauts retrieving the experimental facilities containing the mice from a specialised transport bag. They then installed the facilities in orbit and connected them to the power supply. Once activated, the device maintained a stable internal temperature of around 26 degrees Celsius.
The video also shows the mice taking turns resting in shelter nests inside the facilities and occasionally climbing along the cage walls, appearing lively and well-adapted to their environment.
The mice quickly located their food and began eating, making slight head movements and displaying normal feeding behaviour after their arrival on the space station. The shelter nests also proved effective, providing the mice with a sense of security.
When the facilities were first unpacked, floating faeces and food debris were visible inside. Once the facilities were powered on, directional airflow was activated, guiding hair, faeces and other waste toward a sticky surface at the bottom, ensuring a clean and hygienic environment for the mice.
"After completing their orbital mission, the mice astronauts will return to Earth aboard the Shenzhou-20 spaceship for further analysis," Huang Kun, an expert from the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilisation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), was quoted as saying by China Daily.
For the unversed, China on Friday, launched its Shenzhou-XXI crewed mission to the Tiangong space station, sending three astronauts, including the youngest member of its astronaut corps, into orbit aboard a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China, according to local media reports.
