Posted on 02/02/2004 1:14:21 AM PST by ambrose
China announces plans to start astronaut training for next manned flight
Canadian Press
Monday, February 02, 2004
BEIJING (AP) - Less than four months after it first reached the stars, China said Monday it would begin training astronauts in March for the country's second manned spaceflight - a mission that will likely include a crew of two, according to official media.
The field of 14 astronauts will include Yang Liwei, who in October was catapulted into orbit as the lone astronaut aboard Shenzhou 5 for China's first manned space mission, the official Xinhua News Agency and the state-controlled Beijing Youth Daily newspaper reported.
Training for the Shenzhou 6 mission will be based primarily on what China learned from the October mission, the newspaper said, quoting Huang Weifen, who oversees the selection and training of Chinese astronauts. The names of the potential space travellers weren't released.
The date of the mission remains unclear, though some reports have said it could be as early as the first half of next year. Only China, the United States and Russia have sent manned spacecraft into orbit.
Monday's reports were the latest in what appears to be a comprehensive attempt by China to increase the pace and profile of its space progress. Though China's military-linked space program is highly secretive, it has also been used as a patriotic endeavour much like the American government framed its own race for the moon in the 1960s.
Last month, the Beijing leadership said it had high hopes for plans to send 10 satellites into orbit this year while preparing for a second manned flight and developing its first lunar probe.
Zhang Qingwei, general manager of the China Space Science and Technology Corp, the country's major rocket and satellite producer, said the satellites would be sent into space later this year - including a probe and a meteorological satellite.
China also plans an unmanned moon probe program, which it says will be started later this year. That blueprint includes a lunar satellite launch by 2007 and a moon landing by an unmanned vehicle by 2010. A space station is also planned and was announced on the day Yang returned from space.
Yang became an instant national hero upon his return from 21½ hours in orbit in October, and he immediately went on a victory tour that included mainland cities, Hong Kong and Macau. While any subsequent Chinese astronauts wouldn't have the distinction of being the first, they would undoubtedly be vaulted to fame in the government-controlled media as well.
The 14 would-be astronauts have been resting since Yang's flight and have done only light physical training and flight-operations study, Xinhua said. It said the astronauts would be divided into seven pairs before a winnowing process chooses the finalists for the mission.
You've got that right!
I think that would lead to the US paying the entire bill for everyone, just like the ISS.
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