China aiming to join space club

The Daily Telegraph ^ | January 3, 2003 | David Derbyshire

[MadIvan]

China has announced plans to launch a manned spacecraft this year, becoming the third country to send people into orbit.

The "taikonauts" - from the word taikong (space) - will be blasted into orbit on board the Shenzhou spacecraft in the second half of the year, China's space agency said.

A successful mission would be a propaganda coup for the government, eager to promote China as a technologically advanced nation.

The announcement follows the successful launch of an unmanned Shenzhou capsule from the Gobi desert on Monday. Yesterday, with the craft still in orbit, it appeared that the launch was designed as a dress rehearsal.

Yuan Jie, the director of the Shanghai Aerospace Bureau, told the China News Service that Shenzhou V would carry at least one man into space.

A spokesman said the flight would be a "breakthrough in China's manned aerospace history".

Despite the 41-year history of human space flight, only Russia and America have sent people into space. Astronauts from other nations, including Britain, have been in space, but only by collaborating with Washington or Moscow.

China's military-linked space programme is shrouded in the kind of secrecy last seen by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Launches, including Monday's, have not been announced in advance out of fear that something could go wrong and little is known about its manned spaceflight programme.

Even the names of the taikonauts are unlikely to be announced in advance. About a dozen fighter pilots are thought to have been in training for years for the mission. At least two have trained in the former Soviet Union.

The Shenzhou, or "divine vessel", is loosely based on Russian space technology with a few Chinese improvements. The craft was tested in November 1999.

The Chinese launched a dog, a rabbit, a monkey and some snails into orbit in January 2001. The mission, in which the module orbited 108 times, tested life-support systems.

A third, carrying test dummies, followed last March. A press blackout of the return suggested re-entry failures, though China denied this.

[MadIvan]

One wonders if China will celebrate getting a man into space this year, only to say, "And next year, we'll figure out how to return him safely to earth".

Regards, Ivan

[MadIvan]

Bump!

[Desdemona]

Yeah, but the space toys will fall apart after the first launch.

[Happygal]

Confuscious say: 'No noodles in de noggin, better stick wid makin' wanton'.

[Enterprise]

Instead of Chinese junks in the South China Sea, they will have Chinese junks in space.

[goldstategop]

Don't forget Chen Ho. I'm betting the Chinese will name their first manned space vessel after their greatest explorer.

[RightWhale]

In other space news, ESA, the Euro space agency is floating a plan to send Eurocritters to Mars without NASA by 2025. NASA has been officially marginalized [by its own inaction.]