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China is only weeks away from her second manned spaceflight ShenZhou-6, but China’s first man in space Yang Liwei will not return to space in this mission, according to the reports of Chinese media.
The ShenZhou-6 spaceship, which will carry two astronauts on a five- to seven-day flight, is schedule to take place in mid-October. The flight will follow the 15 October 2003 launch of ShenZhou-5, which carried astronaut Yang Liwei into orbit and made China one of only three countries to independently launch a human into space after Russia and the United States.
During the ShenZhou-5 mission in 2003, Yang Liwei orbited Earth 14 times during his 21.5-hour spaceflight before returning safely.
The state run Xinhua News Agency earlier reported that several two-astronaut teams have been selected from a candidate field of 14 men, all of which are former PLA Air Force fighter pilots. The final decision will depend on how they perform in the upcoming tests.
Attending some PR exercises in China’s eastern city of Nanjing on 17 September, China’s first astronaut Yang Liwei told local newspaper that he will not take part in the ShenZhou-6 flight mission. Yang explained that this is because he is currently involved in the recruitment of new astronaut candidates, and opportunities should be given to other candidates who have yet been to the space.
On 17th September, Hong Kong media reported that the ShenZhou-6 spaceship and CZ-2F (Long March-2F) booster have already arrived at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre (JSLC) for final assembly.
Chinese space programme officials have confirmed that the ShenZhou-6 is more complex than the ShenZhou-5 in that it will carry two astronauts. It will also allow astronauts to take off their spacesuits and enter the orbital module to conduct scientific experiments. In the previous ShenZhou-5 mission, the astronaut Yang Liwei stayed in the re-entry capsule with his spacesuit on during the whole flight for safety reasons.
Preparing for the Future
As China is counting down to its second manned spaceflight, plans are already underway for the future manned space programme.
Yang Liwei told the newspaper that China will begin a new round of astronaut candidate selection next year. These candidates will also include some female for the first time.
In Shanghai, construction began Tuesday on a new $160-million space center to be devoted to researching, testing and producing rockets, manned spacecraft and defense satellites, the Shanghai Space Bureau told Xinhua. Five research institutes will be based at the new centre’s 183-acre site, the report stated.
18 Sept 2005
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