China will launch its second manned spacecraft Shenzhou
VI this morning after the successful 21-hour first manned space
mission two years ago, the headquarters of China's manned space
program said in Jiuquan Tuesday.
The new spacecraft, this time with two astronauts aboard, will
be blast off in space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in
northwest China's Gansu Province, the headquarters said earlier
Tuesday.
Wang Yongzhi, chief designer of China's manned space flight
program, said the two astronauts on Shenzhou VI will for the first
time enter the orbital module from the re-entry capsule and "live
and work several days" under microgravity conditions.
"They will also for the first time carry out scientific
experiments in space with human participation in a real sense,"
said Wang in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.
The Long March rocket propelled China's first manned spacecraft
Shenzhou V into orbit in October 2003. Astronaut Yang Liwei thus
became the first Chinese national to be sent into space.
Liu Yu, commander in chief of the rocket system, said the rocket
for Shenzhou VI has been much improved in reliability and safety
compared with the one for Shenzhou V.
"We have confidence in the quality of this rocket. We have the
conditions and capability to fulfill this mission," said Liu.
"Preparations for the launch are going on well," he said.
Sufficient or even surplus food, water and sleeping bags are
prepared in the orbital module. And a food heater in the spaceship
means that astronauts can have hot meals, while astronaut Yang
could only eat cold food. An excrement collecting device will also
be used for the first time, Yang said in an interview with Xinhua
at the launch center.
The Shenzhou VI spacecraft will be sent into an oval orbit with
a bank angle of 42.4 degrees, a perigee altitude of 200 km and an
apogee altitude of 347 km, and after orbital readjustment, the
spacecraft will move into a round orbit.
At the end of the scheduled space mission, the spacecraft will
return to the main landing field in the central areas of Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region, an official with the Jiuquan
headquarters said.
The astronauts for the scheduled space mission have been
decided, after strict training, selection and assessment, and they
have completed comprehensive ground drills, the official said.
Xinhua reporters at the Beijing Control Center learned that
after the take-off of Shenzhou VI, the operation of the vessel will
be put under the command of Beijing general headquarters for the
flight mission, headed by Chen Bingde, member of the Central
Military Commission and head of the People's Liberation Army (PLA)
General Armament Department, until the end of the mission.
According to China's aerospace development plan, the country's
manned space program will be carried out in three stages,
culminating in the establishment of a permanent space
laboratory.
China has completed the first stage of the program, sending
unmanned spacecraft and a manned spacecraft into near-earth
orbit.
Shenzhou VI will mark the beginning of the second stage, during
which China will have more breakthroughs, such as manned space
flight carrying more than one person and lasting more than one day,
space walking of astronauts, and docking between capsule and space
module.
In the third stage, with a permanent space laboratory and a
space engineering system, Chinese astronauts and scientists will
travel between the earth and the space station to conduct
scientific experiments of larger scale in space regularly, for the
peaceful utilization of space and exploitation of space
resources.
Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng, the two astronauts on China's
second manned space mission, are both selected air force pilots,
like the first astronaut Yang Liwei.
Fei, 40, is from Kunshan, east China's Jiangsu Province. He was
selected as one of the five astronaut candidates in intensified
training for China's first manned space flight -- Shenzhou VI,
which blast into space in October 2003.
Nie, 41, is from Zaoyang, central China's Hubei Province. He was
selected as one of the three finalists for Shenzhou VI. The other
two were Yang Liwei and Zhai Zhigang.
The two astronauts will also enjoy a more comfortable journey
than their predecessor Yang Liwei, since massive technological
improvements have been made to the carrier Long March II F and the
spaceship.
(Xinhua News Agency October 12, 2005)
