After four unmanned trial flights, China's first-ever piloted
spacecraft, the Shenzhou V is set to soar. When it does, and if
successful, China will be propelled into an exclusive country club
status: the third nation capable of independently rocketing humans
into Earth orbit.
Chinese space officials have hinted at a multi-pronged human
spaceflight program, including space station construction, as well
as eventual travel to the Moon, all by 2020.
China's first piloted space journey could occur as early as next
month.
Historic flight
Xu Guanhua, China's Science and Technology Minister, said last
week that preparations for the historic flight were going smoothly,
although no specific date for the takeoff was identified.
Rumor has it that the piloted Shenzhou V could be airborne as
early as October 1, Chinese National Day -- the founding of the
country. Others speculate that mid-October appears to be the
liftoff time frame. Several factors will dictate the launch date
insist Chinese space planners, such as weather, solar activities
and space radiation levels around Earth.
Even the issue of threatening space debris is being
addressed.
During a second national space debris workshop held in Shanghai
last month, expert said that Shenzhou V would be outfitted with an
alarm system to avoid collisions between the craft and chunks of
speeding space flotsam.
Du Heng, chief scientist at the Center for Space Science and
Applied Research under the Chinese Academy of
Sciences said the hardware allows the spacecraft to
automatically dodge space litter.
Single-seat Shenzhou
Whenever Shenzhou V roars into space it will be perched atop a
Long March 2F booster, departing from Jiuquan Space Launch Center
in northwestern Gansu
Province. Touchdown of the craft is expected to be on Inner
Mongolian grassland.
From late 1999 into early 2003, four shakeout flights of the
Shenzhou spaceship have taken place.
The Shenzhou V features 3 modules, from front to end: An orbital
module holding science equipment; the crew-carrying ascent/decent
module; and a service module with attached solar panels, loaded
with electronics gear and rocket engines.
While the crew compartment can hold as many as three passengers,
Shenzhou V is seemingly to be operated by a lone pilot.
The national program for lifting its first pilot into space was
given the go-ahead by the Chinese government in 1992, and is tagged
Project 921.
Drawing upon the country's top jet fighter pilots, an initial
group of 14 astronauts, have been in training. They are reportedly
all under 30 years of age, each with a flying time of over 1,000
hours. Of this carefully picked individuals, two of them are
apparently trainers for the other astronaut candidates.
China's space officials are likely to announce who will fly into
space days before the launch.
There are still lots of unknowns about the impending flight.
Based on reports by Chinese media outlets, both the launch and
landing of Shenzhou V will take place during daylight. Flight time
for Shenzhou V is considered to be less than 24 hours.
Human-rated rocket
Earlier this year, in a wide-ranging discussion with the
People's Daily, some details were offered as to how the
Shenzhou booster was human-rated.
Huang Chunping, deputy chief commander of the Jiuquan Space
Launch Center was also identified as commander-in-chief of the
specially outfitted booster that will lift Chinese space pilots
into orbit, tagged the "Shenjian"--Long March 2F rocket.
Huang said that there is enormous pressure to assure the
readiness of a piloted Shenzhou vehicle. He noted that both Russia
and the United States carried out a dozen or so test shots prior to
sending their first astronauts into space. In contrast, China is
moving into manned flight after only four unpiloted missions, he
said.
The Shenjian-Long March 2F booster features a range of safety
systems. An automatic fault-detection and escape system is tied to
310 kinds of failure modes, Huang said. In designing one element of
the escape system, a Russian design approach was once considered.
"But they set the price at US$10 million. Finally we solved the
problem on our own," he added.
More than 3,000 factories and tens of thousands of scientists,
technicians and managers are engaged in shaping China's manned
space project, Huang said in the People's Daily
interview.
Safer than Soyuz
It's clear that the Shenzhou booster has gotten a technology
makeover, said British space analyst, Clark.
"The Long March 2F has improved guidance and control equipment.
They've upgraded the engines and have new computer systems onboard.
Plus, of course, there's the launch escape system," Clark said.
Clark said that the Chinese have taken a different path in
designing Shenzhou's escape system -- a better approach than that
adopted for Russia's Soyuz vehicle.
Thanks to an extra set of motors mounted on the booster's
shroud, escape of a Shenzhou craft from a failing Long March can be
done at a very high altitude.
"So in that sense, I think Shenzhou is even safer than Russia's
Soyuz," Clark said.
Another design difference from Soyuz is Shenzhou's orbital
module.
Once the Shenzhou?V flight draws to a close, its forward
module will be released, as has been the case in the last three of
Shenzhou's four test trips. Packed with experiments, and powered by
its own solar panels, the orbital module is likely to stay spinning
around the Earth for six months. While floating through space, the
Shenzhou segment can be maneuvered by ground controllers.
International partnerships
Before Shenzhou?V flies, China's ever-growing technological
aptitude has already spawned a number of deals with other
spacefaring nations.
For instance, China and the European Union reached an agreement
on September 18, a deal that has China participating in the Galileo
project. This agreement spurs partnerships on satellite navigation
in a wide range of sectors, notably science and technology,
industrial manufacturing, and service and market development.
Another example is last month's agreement between China and
Russia to plan a course together in future space exploration
efforts.
No doubt that the successful flight of a piloted Shenzhou V
would catapult China into top-drawer status in terms of nations
capable of doing heady things in space.
"I am excited that there is a third nation that has made the
investment in human spaceflight and will soon join the US and
Russia in this grand experiment," said Roger Launius, Chair of the
Division of Space History at the Smithsonian Institution's National
Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. .
(China Daily September 25, 2003)
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