High-performance computers ensured automatic control of the operation of China's Shenzhou spacecraft, said a leading officer with the space program.

Xi Zheng, head of the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center, said ten large-capacity computers at the center help the officers control the spaceship. "Sound planning and sophisticated computer software made the command and control system fully automatic."

Xi and his team, mostly in their 30s, designed the software.

Even though the spacecraft was ensured of an automatic flight and landing, he added, the officers kept monitoring the Shenzhou V manned craft throughout its flight that came to a successful conclusion early Thursday morning.

When necessary, they would delete some of the pre-set command data in the computer system and put in new data. Moreover, Shenzhou V was fitted with a computerized control system to back up the ground control and manual control by the astronaut.

"The astronaut would have implemented a contingency plan had any problem occurred with the computerized system," said the senior engineer.

He recalled that the ground control administered five manual adjustments to Shenzhou IV during its flight in the outer space in December 2002. Shenzhou IV, though unmanned, was of the same model as Shenzhou V, which has just made history by completing China's first manned spaceflight.

(Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2003)