China intends to launch its second crewed rocket in September or October 2005, according to the country鈥檚 official news agency, Xinhua.
The Long March 2F rocket will carry two people into orbit on the Shenzhou 6 mission, says the report, but the astronauts 鈥� or 鈥渢aikonauts鈥� 鈥� have not yet been named. During the five- or six-day mission, the crew will conduct several scientific experiments.
The successful lift-off of Shenzhou 5 spacecraft with taikonaut Yang Liwei on 15 October 2003 saw China become the third nation, after the US and Russia, with the capability to launch humans into space. Yang circled Earth 14 times, but stayed strapped into his seat during the entire mission. The next mission should see the taikonauts moving around in their capsule.
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The Shenzhou 6 pair will be selected from the same group of 14 fighter pilots from which Yang was drawn, says Sun Laiyan, director of China National Space Administration, told China Daily.
The mission is unlikely to include a spacewalk, but venturing outside the capsule is probably in China鈥檚 plans for 2006 to 2011. During that period, China may also attempt to rendezvous and dock two spacecraft in Earth orbit in preparation for a lunar mission. A small space station may also be planned.
Heavy load
China鈥檚 step-by-step approach to developing their human spaceflight capabilities reduces the risk of problems, says Charles Vick, senior fellow for space policy at Globalsecurity.org, based in Washington DC, US.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e being very cautious 鈥� that is obvious 鈥� as they go forward,鈥� he told New 杏吧原创. He also says the Chinese probably had to reinforce the launch-rocket to support the heavier capsule.
The possibility of a Chinese moon base 鈥渋s part of the reason the US administration is pushing for a lunar effort鈥�, Vick says. But he adds that the Chinese human spaceflight program is several years behind their government-imposed schedule and is probably underfunded.
Sun met with outgoing NASA administrator Sean O鈥橩eefe on 2 December 2004 to discuss future collaborations between the two space-faring nations.
