China Details Space Safety Measures for Manned Missions

space.com/AP ^ | march-31-2003 | By Associated Press

[green team 1999]

China Details Space Safety Measures for Manned Missions

By Associated Press
posted: 04:10 pm ET
31 March 2003
BEIJING (AP) -- China has installed comprehensive safety systems allowing its "taikonauts" to escape their spacecraft if there is an emergency, state media said Monday.

China is planning its first space launch later this year and said the safety measures are meant to prevent a disaster similar to that which destroyed the space shuttle Columbia Feb. 1 as it re-entered the atmosphere. Seven astronauts were killed.

The safety systems are designed to rescue taikonauts from danger or mishaps at any time during their flight, according to an article on the Web site of the Communist Party's People's Daily

Taikonauts can escape the pod before liftoff via cables, high-speed elevator or ejection seats, the article said. During orbit, they can exit the craft and be picked up by another spaceship.

Upon re-entry, the stage during which Columbia broke apart, taikonauts can escape by ejecting or reducing speed, said the article, entitled ``Safety of Chinese Astronauts Guaranteed and Emergency Escape Assured."

Safety also is guaranteed by reliability of the ground control system, which will ensure the craft is placed into the proper orbit and re-enters along the correct route, the article said. The craft's shell also has been reinforced to withstand greater extremes of heat and vibration, it said.

"If these problems are not well solved then it is possible for the accident to happen as it did the US 'Columbia' spacecraft," the report said.

Following four successful unmanned flights of its Shenzhou-series spacecraft, China has said it will put one or more humans into space sometime in the second half of this year.

The space program has close ties to the secretive military and precise launch dates never are announced in advance.

If successful, the launch would make China the third nation in history -- after Russia and the United States -- to launch a manned spacecraft. China has been training a corps of taikonauts -- based on the Chinese word for space -- reportedly with Russian help.

for information and discusion only,not for profit etc,etc.

[newgeezer]

Manned missions? Sure. Leave the 1960s stuff to the Chinese.

[Asclepius]

``Safety of Chinese Astronauts Guaranteed and Emergency Escape Assured."

Let this be stenciled on their body bags.

[SENTINEL]

I wonder if they have built ejection seats into the homes of all the villages near their launch sites. Actually, I guess it wouldn't matter, those villages have all been blown up by crashing rockets...

[ko_kyi]

Chinese official says "The odds of a man returning alive from a Chinese moon landing are a million to one, so we figure we have at least 1000 tries."

[Cincinatus]

Upon re-entry, the stage during which Columbia broke apart, taikonauts can escape by ejecting or reducing speed,

Ejecting at Mach 16 and 60 miles up, huh? ROFL!! "Reducing speed", huh? Now why didn't we think of that? Boy, what dummies these Americans are, huh?

More proof (as if any were needed) of the technical idiocy of the press.

[cmsgop]

During orbit, they can exit the craft and be picked up by another spaceship.

WHAT OTHER SPACECRAFT ?????? LMAO!!!!!!!

[green team 1999]

i noticed the part about ejecting on re-entry,their astronouts are very brave or real nuts.
will they eject with their helmets on?, no,not needed!ha.

[green team 1999]

WHAT OTHER SPACECRAFT ?????? LMAO!!!!!!!

eight months later!,hope their oxygen tanks hold!

[Billy_bob_bob]

Sure, they can build rockets to go to the moon, but they can't seem to provide basic sanitation or plumbing to their hundreds of millions of peasants in the rural areas. You know, the peasants living in bronze age squalor, with the whole human-fish-pig-duck cycle that makes all of these intresting new diseases and plagues that China shares with the rest of the planet?

Gee, it sure would be nice if China would put their space program on the back burner, and put a sanitation program on the front burner. A little chlorine would go a long way towards making China more of a first world nation.

China reminds me of a street bum who got lucky in the lottery, and who wants to crash all of the nice parties in town just because he has cash in his pocket. Too bad he didn't think to take a shower and wash the s#!t off his shoes before he decided to go party crashing!

[RightWhale]

taikonauts can escape by ejecting or reducing speed

That would be a neat trick during re-entry. Either ejecting or reducing speed.

[Mamzelle]

Any Americans at this conference?

[green team 1999]

only the press, do they count as americans?

[green team 1999]

the large capsule have more than enough room for the two pilots.

[newgeezer]

So? Manned missions are just for bragging rights. Been there, done that. We can do so much more for so much less with unmanned missions, it's not worth debating.

But, one man's pork is another man's special interest. "Conservative" loses all meaning when encroaching on some people's pet projects. For some, it's NASA. For others, prescriptions for seniors. Still others, military bases.

[RightWhale]

Pretty good pictures. I don't doubt they are more than ready to fly this.

[martian_22]

Man will always have a presence in space if possible. Exploration gene and all that... Not to mention the urge for the higher ground defense/strategic application.

Men have been trained for military ops in zero-G environments for reasons I suspect we don't know about yet.

I think it goes beyond bragging rights IMHO.

[apkubrick]

The scientists are referring to a secondary, thermally resistant capsule within the main spacecraft. "Eject" is not the best phrase, perhaps. If the main spacecraft begins to experience problems, it can simply "burn-off" leaving the inner capsule intact or explosive bolts can be used to free the capsule from the main fuselage.
I wish the Chinese the very best in their endeavor. Safety is a noble aim for all explorers.

[sonofatpatcher2]

Talk about "Spam in a can."

[RightWhale]

That's the way the Space Shuttle could have been built, although at a payload cost. I wonder if NASA, starting now, could launch a manned Apollo module into orbit before the manned Shenzhou launch. The Apollo crew module was a rugged piece of equipment. They should have kept that program going.