 | |  |
 |
|
|
|
China
to Launch Manned Spacecraft |
Posted:10.15.03
|
|
|
After 11 years of planning, China is expected to send its first-ever
manned spacecraft into orbit Wednesday, becoming the third nation
after the former Soviet Union and the United States to send humans
into space.
Printer-friendly versions: HTML
/ PDF
|
|
|
|
|
 The
Shenzhou, "Divine Ship," will depart from the launch center
in the Gobi desert and orbit the Earth 14 times in 21 hours. The
most likely taikonaut, the Chinese word for astronaut, is Yang Liwei,
a 38-year-old from an agricultural region of northeast China.
"They're going to be in the top echelon of an exclusive
club," James Oberg, a NASA veteran said. "And they're
not going to retrace everybody's steps. For much of that time,
the other countries were going in circles."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Mission |
|
|
|
|
|
After multiple satellite launch failures in the 1980s and 1990s,
Chinese officials have chosen to keep the details of this latest
mission secret.
However, in the days leading up to the launch, officials kicked
off a publicity campaign for the event. As part of the campaign,
an army song and dance troupe filmed a music video called "flying."
In addition, the state television channel CCTV will begin a 20-part
documentary of the space program in China.
Space programs have been a source of competition and national
pride since the space race between the United States and Soviet
Union took off during the Cold War.
 Moscow
led the space race in 1957 with the launch of Sputnik 1, the first
manmade piece of equipment to orbit the earth. The following year,
U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower sent a bill to Congress that
created NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).
In 1969, America seemed to have won the space race when Neil
Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon.
|
|
|
|
Building
national pride |
|
|
|
|
|
Wednesday's launch comes at a time of rapid political, social
and economic change in China and builds on the momentum of Beijing's
selection as the host country for the 2008 Olympics.
"China is hoping that its first spaceman will help focus
the attention of citizens on China's greatness rather than on
the downsides of the country's wrenching economic transformation,"
said James Miles, a British Broadcasting Corp. reporter who has
covered China for many years.
 In
a country where 140 million people live off less than a $1 a day,
a successful mission could not only increase national pride but
offer China a new seat on the world stage next to the most powerful
countries.
"The goal is therefore highly political, and is aimed at
projecting China above other regional powers, to an orbit where
only the largest continental nations rotate," said Jean-Pierre
Cabestan, a China specialist at the French National Center for
Scientific Research.
|
|
|
|
Military
implications |
|
|
|
|
|
China's decision to keep the details of its space program quiet
makes its neighbors nervous.
"China … is displaying its confidence that it is Asia's
No. 1 military power," said Testuo Maeda, a Japanese military
analyst.
Maeda predicts that the Chinese launch could "hasten Japan's
ballistic missile defense program," the Associated Press
reported.
 India
is also concerned by China's advancement because of the hostility
between the two nations over border disputes.
China has promised, however, that its space program's goals are
peaceful.
"China has never and will never participate in an arms race
of any form in outer space," said foreign ministry spokeswoman
Zhang Qiyue.
|
|
|
|
International
space programs |
|
|
|
|
|
Despite the growing number of space programs across the world,
the United States still controls 80 percent of the world space
budget.
Japan has launched an unmanned spacecraft, while India is looking
to send a probe to the moon, the BBC reported.
Because of the high cost of space travel, not all nations have
adopted their own space programs. Fifteen European countries combined
their resources to create the European Space Agency. Europe has
its own launcher, the Ariane 5 rocket, and a fleet of planetary
exploration crafts, but has not committed itself to manned missions.
If Wednesday's mission is successful, China plans to move forward
with a mission to the moon, a space station and, eventually, a
trip to Mars.
--
Sheryl Silverman, Online NewsHour
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
American schools and financial aid should be only for legal citizens of the United States. There should be no exceptions to this.
