China expects to launch its first manned spacecraft in the second
half of this year, a senior aerospace official said yesterday.
Yuan Jie, director of the Shanghai Aerospace Bureau, was reported
by the China News Service to have revealed the time on his return
to Shanghai after witnessing the successful launch of Shenzhou IV
on Monday morning.
The spacecraft blasted into space at 12:40 am on that day on a
powerful Long March 2F rocket, and detached itself from the launch
vehicle, entering its pre-set orbit at around 12:50 am.
The launch of Shenzhou IV, China's fourth unmanned spacecraft, is
the second time in a year that the country has staged an unmanned
mission, following the launch of Shenzhou III nine months ago.
If
Yuan's wishes are met, China will become the world's third country
to independently launch a human into the space, following the
former Soviet Union and the United States.
Preparation of the first manned spacecraft has entered the overall
assembly and testing phase, Yuan said.
Shenzhou IV has laid a solid foundation for the coming manned space
mission.
Compared with the three previous unmanned space capsules launched
between November 1999 and March 2002, Shenzhou IV represents the
country's most sophisticated and fullest preparation so far to
realize the nation's long-cherished dream of manned space flight,
said Yuan.
Sources from the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center said
all experiments carried on Shenzhou IV had been running well,
Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday.
And at 00:09 am, it sent back a clear New Year's greeting to the
whole nation, the first of its kind by the spacecraft.
(China Daily January 2, 2003)