China’s First Manned Space Flight
It appears as if all is “GO” for China to attempt being the third nation to put a man in space next week. According to this Reuters article, the stakes are pretty high. Success is supposed to “fuel nationalism and offer a boost to the Communist Party as China seeks a place on the world stage alongside the traditional great powers.”
But failure, has its costs as well. “Any failure would be a loss of face and would raise questions about the necessity of a space program in a country where 140 million people live on less than $1 a day.”
For all the news we’ve seen about the growth of the Chinese economy, it is sort of thought provoking that so many subsist on less than $1 a day. Makes you seriously wonder whether manned space exploration is an appropriate utilization of resources for such a country.
Here’s the full article:
Historic China Space Launch a Go for Next Week
Fri October 10, 2003 02:22 PM ET
By Jonathan Ansfield
BEIJING (Reuters) - China will launch its first manned spaceship next week, aiming to become the third country after the Soviet Union and the United States to put a man in orbit.
The official Xinhua news agency said on Friday the Shenzhou V would be launched between October 15 and 17 at an “appropriate time” from a launch pad in the Gobi desert in northwestern China and orbit the Earth 14 times.
It was the first official confirmation of the launch window on a mission China has kept under tight wraps.
“The Shenzhou V spacecraft will carry out the first manned space mission and will lift off from the China Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center,” Xinhua quoted an official in charge of the country’s space program as saying.
“Now all preparatory work for the launch is progressing smoothly.”
Sources at two major state-run television stations and a tour operator told Reuters early this week the launch had been provisionally set for the morning of October 15, barring bad weather.
And Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po newspaper said the craft would fly for 21 hours, or 90 minutes per orbit, before floating back down to Earth the next morning.
It did not say how many astronauts would be taking part in the maiden voyage, but that a team had been trained for the mission.
Qi Faren, chief designer of the vessel, was quoted by the China Daily as saying he and his colleagues were confident about the mission despite the fact China had so far conducted only four unmanned test flights due to “limited funds.”
RIGHT STUFF
China has kept a veil of secrecy on details of the launch, with scant details leaking in a few state newspapers and in Hong Kong.
State media have said that up to three “taikonauts” could be aboard the craft, although the Shanghai-based Liberation Daily said on Thursday a single astronaut would be chosen from 14 experienced fighter pilots.
A successful manned flight, on the heels of Beijing winning a bid to host the 2008 Olympics, could fuel nationalism and offer a boost to the Communist Party as China seeks a place on the world stage alongside the traditional great powers.
Any failure would be a loss of face and would raise questions about the necessity of a space program in a country where 140 million people live on less than $1 a day.
The public buildup for the space launch began on Friday, with state media releasing a flood of new though still sketchy details, preparing the country for the big day.
An army song and dance troupe was filming a music video to celebrate the launch called “Flying,” the Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily said.
It showed a black-and-white photo of a girl tightly clad in a spacesuit trimmed with shiny vinyl, the Chinese flag sewn on her chest, with fake moonrock in the backdrop.
“‘Flying’ will express through song the romantic emotions and spirit of exploration of the Chinese people in their 1,000-year pursuit of a dream,” the paper said.
State television giant CCTV is poised to begin a 20-part documentary on the history of the space program on its science and technology channel, the TV program’s chief editor said.
The Beijing tabloid Star said the show would deal with the failure of two test rocket launches in 1990 and 1992, which killed an unknown number of people.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=3595163
