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Did Shenzhou-2 Go Splat
Hong Kong - Jan. 19, 2001 In the three days since Shenzhou-2 returned to Earth, China has released not a single photo of the capsule. This is in stark contrast to the first Shenzhou mission in late 1999 when China released a whole series of photos of the spacecraft after it landed in central China. There is now growing suspicion that the landing portion of the Shenzhou-2 mission was maybe not as successful as China's official state media has claimed. One China watcher told Spacedaily that in a closed society like China this would be a typical response as the various players position themselves to shift the blame. Unfortunately failure is more the rule than the exception with space development. For example, Mars exploration is currently running at about 50/50 with a whole string of failures for both the US and Russia. And as any telecom operator knows an expensive launch failure can happen no matter how much quality control is applied. But with so much at stake, China may feel compelled to cover up a failed mission. On the other hand there may be a perfectly valid explanation for the lack of post landing photos. Unlike Shenzhou-1 which was not announced until the mission had landed, Shenzhou-2 was announced as the spacecraft blasted off. In the hours and days that followed China released a surprising amount of information through its various state media outlets. As such the explanation might be that given an initial flurry of openness the censorship has begun at the end of the mission. But with so much national pride at stake surely a successful touchdown would have been the perfect occasion on which to release a set of photos and video of the spacecraft taken the next day after sunrise. The next 48 hours should prove to be very interesting. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express The Chinese Space Program - News, Policy and Technology China News from SinoDaily.com
Taikonauts On Moon A Far Off Dream For China Yet
Beijing (XNA) Jan 05, 2006A one-year lunar fly-by mission may start in April 2007 in China, but a manned flight to the Earth's neighbour may be a long way away, a chief lunar exploration scientist said last night. |
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