China’s next Tiangong space station residents will be its youngest crew ever

The youngest-ever crew of a Chinese space mission was set for launch on Thursday morning as they prepared to spend six months aboard the Tiangong space station.

The three former fighter pilots, whose average age is 38, were introduced at a press conference on Wednesday. The Shenzhou 17 mission is scheduled to launch at 11.14am from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China, officials said.