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ZL2VAL > SPACE 15.10.03 21:41l 161 Lines 6733 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: China launches manned mission
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From: ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
To : SPACE@WW
Country becomes third spacefaring nation
Associated Press
October 14, 2003
GOBI DESERT, China -- China launched its first manned space mission
on Wednesday, sending an astronaut hurtling into orbit and becoming
the third country in history to do so -- four decades after the
Soviet Union and the United States.
With a column of smoke, the Shenzhou 5 craft cut across a bright,
azure northwest China sky at exactly 9 a.m. The official Xinhua News
Agency immediately confirmed the launch and said the astronaut was
Yang Liwei, 38.
"China's first manned spacecraft, the Shenzhou 5, blasted off,"
Xinhua said. State television cut into its programming to announce
the launch, though no footage was shown.
Minutes later, a CCTV announcer said that Shenzhou 5 and Yang had
"entered orbit at 9:10."
It was the culmination of a decade of efforts by China's
military-linked manned space program -- and a patriotism-drenched
moment for a communist government more concerned than ever about its
profile on the world stage.
Security was tight around the remote Gobi Desert base, some 175
miles northeast of Jiuquan.
On Wednesday morning, the only road to the launch site was crowded
with traffic, including military vehicles and civilian tour buses.
But private cars were turned back and phone calls to the base were
blocked.
China kept details of the event secret, saying in advance only that
the launch would take place between Wednesday and Friday and that
the astronaut would orbit the Earth 14 times. Yang was identified as
a lieutenant colonel.
The Shenzhou 5 launch came after four test launches of unmanned
capsules that orbited the Earth for nearly a week before parachuting
back to China's northern grasslands. State media say the manned
flight is expected to last about 20 hours.
"The launch of Shenzhou 5 is long-awaited by the Chinese people,"
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said earlier. She said the
flight was a key step in the "peaceful development of space" -- a
reflection of China's effort to reassure the world that its
military-linked program is benign.
The Shenzhou, or "Divine Vessel," is based on the three-seat Russian
Soyuz capsule, though with extensive modifications. China also paid
Moscow to train at least two astronauts.
But Beijing insists everything sent into space will be developed and
made in China. State media, trying to dispel suggestions that its
triumph depends on foreign know-how, refer to Shenzhou as "China's
self-designed manned spaceship."
Chinese media reported earlier that Yang Liwei has been a pilot
since 1983.
"I will not disappoint the motherland. I will complete each movement
with total concentration. And I will gain honor for the People's
Liberation Army and for the Chinese nation," the popular Web site
Sina.com quoted Yang as saying.
Phoenix Television, a Hong Kong broadcaster with close ties to
China's military, said Yang had entered the capsule at 8 a.m. (8
p.m. EDT) Wednesday.
Yang reportedly was born in 1965 in Youzhong County in Liaoning
province, an industrial area in China's northeast. He is 5 feet, 6
inches tall and earns about $1,200 a month, Sina said.
Sina quoted his older sister as saying he was an athletic child who
enjoyed swimming and ice skating.
He works for the Aviation Military Unit of China's People's
Liberation Army, Chinese media said.
People's Daily said the Shenzhou 5 capsule had completed its own
final tests and, on Tuesday, was "sitting on the launch pad with
more fuel being injected." It said top Chinese leaders, including
President Hu Jintao, were to attend the launch.
However, state television scrapped plans for a live broadcast of the
launch. A Hong Kong newspaper said the cancellation was prompted by
fears of the "political risks" of something going wrong.
Xinhua quoted space officials Tuesday assuring the public that the
astronauts' space suits were safe and the Long March CZ-2 F booster
was China's "best rocket."
After months of official silence, the government showed growing
confidence over the past week, announcing that the flight would
blast off some time between Wednesday and Friday and splashing
pictures of the once-secret launch base across newspapers.
But the decision to cancel a live broadcast suggested leaders might
be unnerved by the thought of the propaganda disaster that an
accident could produce. The People's Daily Web site gave no
explanation for the decision to cancel.
China used to broadcast satellite launches live, but stopped in 1995
after a rocket blew up moments after liftoff, reportedly killing six
people on the ground.
State television planned to broadcast taped scenes of the launch
only if it succeeds, the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning
Post said, citing "media sources."
State-run China Central Television would not confirm the report.
"There might be a live broadcast, or there might not," a CCTV
spokeswoman, who refused to give her name, told The Associated
Press. "CCTV employees aren't allowed to answer that question."
Dozens of messages left on Chinese Web sites taunted officials for
their decision and demanded that the government show its people the
historic launch as it happens.
Such sites are monitored by censors who enforce official rules on
content and sometimes erase postings, which suggested the negative
postings were genuine.
"The decision is very idiotic and reflects our nation's lack of
confidence," said a note on the popular Sina.com Web site, signed
Flyying111.
The Gansu Daily, published in the provincial capital, Lanzhou,
welcomed the imminent launch.
"Finally," it said, "the time has come to realize the 1,000-year
dream of flying dreamed by the sons and daughters of China."
==============================
73 de Alan
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