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China Flags Secret Russian Space Pact
Hong Kong - Nov 26, 1999 - Hong Kong - Nov 26, 1999 - Hong Kong newspapers had earlier in the week reported that a dummy "Taikonaut" went into space aboard the Shenzhou capsule. Now alledgely revealed here in a photo published by today's edition of Beijing Youth is the virtual taikonaut that guests at the welcoming ceremony for the capsule's return to Beijing, reported seeing. During the ceremony technicians opened the hatch and removed most of the payload. Par to the payload included a dummy Taikonaut (the unoffical name for a Chinese spaceman) covered with sensors for collecting data during the mission. The ceremony took place yesterday Tuesday at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation in the Beijing Aerospace City, which is in the northwestern suburbs of Beijing. President Jiang Zemin led members of the Central Military Commission for the ceremony congratulating the team involved in the mission. Jiang said the successful launch of China's first manned spacecraft is a milestone for the space industry in China and a major breakthrough in manned spaceflight. Technicians did not remove the dummy Taikonaut immediately. Guests at the ceremony looked through a small portal in order to see the dummy. Sensors on the dummy collected data on various parameters during the flight. According to a researcher at the ceremony, data collected in the mission will take several months to analyze. Scientists will determine if the capsule is indeed suitable for manned flights. Until the completion of the final report, it is unlikely that the dummy will make an appearance.
Other payload on this mission include:
The Beijing Notary certified all on-board cargo on September 9.  Capsule been uploaded - Photo - People's Daily |
The programme -- which remains largely hidden from the world media -- is the focus of renewed attention following last weekend's 21-hour unmanned test flight of China's Shenzhou space capsule.
The test confirmed China's bid to become the third country after the former Soviet Union and the United States to put a man in space.
Moscow provided intensive training to two Chinese astronauts on Russian soil since inking an agreement with Beijing three years ago, the Laodong Daily said.
A report in the China Business Times identified the pair as Wu Jie and Li Qinglong, who have since become the chief instructors for China's indigenous training programme.
They attended courses in astro-navigation and astronomy at the Star City Space Centre outside of Moscow, training on use of Russian space equipment including components copied from the orbiting space station Mir, the Laodong Daily said.
Wu and Li took "all necessary courses" connected to manned space missions, mastering flight techniques of Russian spacecraft, it said.
Their training wound up in 1997 with exams and simulations at the Yuri Gagarian Cosmonaut Training Centre, where they receiving high marks, the report added.
Both are now stationed at a specialised training base west of Beijing, where China is training its first batch of astronauts, hand picked from the country's top fighter-interceptor pilots.
Russian assistance with the manned space programme appears to extend beyond training.
Although the Shenzhou has been trumpeted by the state propaganda machine as "completely indigenous" Western analysts say the capsule appeared in pictures to be little more than a slightly modified version of the old Soviet workhorse of space, the Soyuz.
American experts in particular are convinced that China -- seeking a technological short cut -- simply paid Russia heavily for sharing experience in manned missions stretching back to 1961.
According to past media reports, Beijing's astronaut training base incorporates an acceleration-tolerance machine, weightlessness simulators and other equipment.
Copyright 1999 AFP. All rights reserved. The material on this page is provided by AFP and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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