First Taikonaut in Space

[Dave]

The Shenzhou 5 cut across a bright, azure northwest China sky at exactly 1am on Wednesday and went into orbit 10 minutes later. The official Xinhua News Agency immediately confirmed the launch and said the astronaut was air force Lt. Col. Yang Liwei, 38.

I've been following this for a few weeks since the first news of the launch of a "taikonaut" was released, for a flight anything from hours to several days, but apart from that the Chinese government was keeping quiet. Even this morning state television scrapped plans for a live broadcast of the launch, suggesting that leaders were unnerved by the thought of the propaganda disaster that an accident could produce after 11 years of planning.

The launch comes 42 years after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth. But China is still be only the third country capable of manned space flight, vaulting it ahead of Japan and European countries, which have only unmanned programs. Even NASA is currently grounded.

The Shenzhou, or "Divine Vessel," capsule is based on Russia's Soyuz vessel, with extensive modifications. China bought Russian space suits and a life support system to study, though officials stress that everything sent up will be made in China. China also paid Moscow to train at least two astronauts.

The 8-ton Shenzhou is even bigger than Soyuz, which can seat up to three "taikonauts" (in English from the Chinese word for space.) In Chinese, they are "yuhangyuan," or travelers of the universe. And Chinese reports say specialists have created a menu of 20 space meals - enough for a week.

Beijing has nurtured the dream of manned space flight since at least the early 1970s, when its first program was scrapped during the upheaval of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. The current effort began in 1992 under the code name Project 921.

Four unmanned Shenzhou capsules have been launched, orbiting the Earth for up to a week and landing by parachute in the northern grasslands of China's Inner Mongolia region.

Foreign experts said Shenzhou 3 suffered a hard landing and might have been damaged. But Chinese officials said the fourth test flight went off without a hitch.

Such success has encouraged Chinese researchers who want support for sending probes to the moon and Mars.

"In the future," the China News Service quoted Wang Shuquan as saying, "China will conduct tests on lunar-landing flight."

Yang, who is 5 feet, 6 inches tall and comes from a family of teachers, was already being held up to China's population of 1.3 billion as an instant hero.

He has 1,350 hours of flight experience, the government said. Colleagues describe him as "miraculously dedicated'', according to Xinhua.

Yang's clothing in flight consisted of 14 layers that took 15 minutes to don with the help of technicians, the general commander of the astronaut programme, Su Shuangning, told Phoenix Television, a Hong Kong broadcaster with close ties to the mainland's military. Yang's space suit cost more than $12 million, Su said.

Yang was selected on Tuesday from a pool of three finalists. The astronauts have been training for years, and the field of candidates was narrowed from 14 in recent days.

Yang was born in Youzhong County in Liaoning province, an industrial area in China's northeast.

Sina quoted his older sister as saying he was an athletic child who enjoyed swimming and ice skating. He works for the Aviation Military Unit of China's People's Liberation Army, Chinese media said.

China's manned Shenzhou V spacecraft is now orbiting Earth. Sky watchers in parts of the United States--e.g., Boston, New York, Washington DC, Philadelphia, San Francisco and possibly Los Angeles--may be able to see the craft gliding across the sky just before local dawn on Wednesday morning, Oct 15th.

Sources: I-Won News, Associated Press, AOL News, NASA spaceweather.

[SilverCaladan]

Thats pretty cool. I also didn't realize that China is only the third country to achieve manned spaceflight. I thought it was much more. Apparently not, but it makes me even more hopeful that something like Columbia or Challanger never happens over my head again. With more minds working on the same thing, maybe someone will come up with a workable solution...

[greyhorse]

The principles used in building rockets are similar to those used in building missiles. Countries with extensive research in missile development tend to fare best at making working rockets...

You also need a place to test both missles and rockets. Many countries just do not have the space to test rockets.

In the case of Japan, they have it bad both ways. Not only is it a heavily populated collection of small islands, but their constitution prevents them from working on developing missles.

It's kinda sad, but much like a lot of technologies, space exploration has its roots in military research.

[timdgreat]

hey dave i didnt know that nasa wasnt flying right now whats up? why they grounded?:rolly2:

[Dave]

Check the date of my original post, it's from last year, but the shuttle was still grounded due to continuing concerns about it's safety post-Challenger. I don't know if they have any other launch vehicles to use, the ISS was being serviced using Russian Soyuz missions.

According to the NASA site the Discovery (OV-103) continues to be processed for a "Return to Flight" mission, STS-114, to the International Space Station. The Atlantis (OV-104) continues to be processed for its future flight to the International Space Station. The Endeavour (OV-105) is in its "Orbiter Major Modification" period, which began in December 2003.

[timdgreat]

cool thanks dave, thats all i wanted to know :rolly2:

[SilverCaladan]

Haven't they had at least one mission since then now? I seem to remember something about it on the news.