China plans to send two astronauts into space for only its second manned space mission, a space engineer has revealed.
Qi Faren, the chief designer behind China鈥檚 Shenzhou class of spacecraft, told the government-run news agency Xinhua that two Chinese astronauts, or 鈥渢aikonauts鈥�, would be aboard the sixth Shenzhou to blast off. Officials have said the second manned spaceflight is due to take place in October 2005 and will last between five and seven days.
In October 2003, China became only the third nation to place a human in space, after the former Soviet Union and the US. The achievement is a source of great national pride for China and the government has revealed even more dramatic ambitions. These include constructing a space station and sending unmanned spacecraft to the Moon.
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China鈥檚 historic first manned flight, in October 2003, saw a lone astronaut, Yang Liwei, orbit the Earth 14 times before touching down on the grassy plains of Inner Mongolia.
But John Logsdon, director of the Space Policy Institute in Washington, US, says two years is considerably longer than the US or Russia took between their first and second manned flights. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 surprising is how slow they are progressing,鈥� he told New Scientist. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e certainly being cautious.鈥�
Divine vessel
鈥淲aiting two years is extraordinarily methodical,鈥� adds James Oberg, a veteran of the US space program and now an independent aerospace analyst.
Logsdon believes China has the ability to achieve its long-term ambitions providing there is enough investment and political will.
But Oberg notes that these plans will depend to a large extent upon the successful development of a new and more powerful class of 鈥淟ong March鈥� rocket. This rocket is used to launch the Shenzhou craft. China plans to revamp the Long March so it may be powerful enough to launch space station parts.
Qi points out that the Shenzhou craft, meaning 鈥渄ivine vessel鈥�, differs from the earliest Soviet and US manned craft mainly because part of it can remain in orbit after detaching from the manned section.
鈥淭he Shenzhou orbital module has the capacity to stay in orbit after the astronauts return to earth by using solar panels to provide power allowing the orbital capsule to stay in space for up to half a year,鈥� Qi told Xinhua.
Qi also stated that China would aim to perform it鈥檚 first ever spacewalk before 2010. Fourteen Chinese astronauts, or 鈥渢aikonauts鈥�, have been training as part of China鈥檚 emerging space program. But the names of the next two Shenzhou crewmembers have not yet been released.