 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Shenzhou-5 Re-Entry Capsule Passes To Research Institute
Beijing - Oct, 17, 2003 The re-entry capsule of Shenzhou-5,which carried China's first astronaut Lt. Col. Yang Liwei to and returned from the space between Oct. 15-16, was handed to the Chinese Research Institute of Space Technology here Friday. The capsule, which landed safely in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 6:23 a.m. Thursday, just 4.8 kilometers off the pre-set target, arrived in Beijing Friday afternoon on a special train. After a primary inspection, experts concluded that the buffer engines of the capsule operated normally before the landing and the entire capsule remained intact. Shenzhou-5, measuring 9.2 meters in length and weighing 7,790 kilograms, consists of the orbit, re-entry and propulsion modules. The capsule will soon be opened and the data collected by the scientific apparatus on board will be studied. Enditem
Manned space program significant for China Wang Yongzhi said manned space technology was an indicator of the country's technological and economic prowess as well as comprehensive strength. China's manned space program, launched in 1992, made history this week when its first astronaut Yang Liwei went into space and returned to Earth safe and sound. Speaking to Xinhua at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, where the country's first manned spacecraft Shenzhou-5 blasted off on Oct. 15, Wang said the program involved a number of sciences and high-tech sectors, including modern mechanics, astronomy, geosciences, aerospace medical sciences, space sciences, and technology concerning systems of engineering, autocontrol, computers, propulsion, telecommunications, remote sensing, new energy, new materials, microelectronics and photoelectronics. "You cannot buy these high technologies on the market at any cost," said Wang, former president of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, which developed China's Long March carrier rockets. China launched its manned space program later than the former Soviet Union and the United States, but it started at a higher level as all major key technologies used in the project were developed by Chinese scientists on their own. Citing unique features of the spacecraft, rocket system, monitoring and telecommunication systems, the scientist said the program adopted a large number of independently developed technologies. The breakthroughs in many major technological issues helped improve the country's scientific and technological strength in high-tech areas, Wang said. Successful manned space programs could boost the development ofthe national economy as there were many valuable resources in space. Many important resources on the Earth were not inexhaustible, and mankind had to look to other planets, the scientist said. Space also provided a unique environment for scientific experiments under the conditions of a vacuum, strong radiation andmicro-gravity, which are difficult to simulate on Earth. "We expect the manned space program to promote the development of many industries." He said China's commercial rocket launch service and the booming sectors of nuclear power, satellite telecommunications andspace remote sensing were all made possible by the country's programs to develop atomic weapons, satellites and rockets since the middle of the last century. The country's manned space project had played an important rolein training many scientists and engineers, he said. Young and middle-aged people had become the backbone of the country's space sector with people under the age of 35 accounting for 70 percent of the total, Wang said. Zhang Qingwei, general manager of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CAST), manufacturer of the spacecraft and the carrier rocket, said the series of major breakthroughs made over recent decades had contributed to the success of the manned space mission. "The 13 key technologies applied in making the spacecraft were all developed on our own and they are comparable with the most advanced in the world," said Zhang.
Chinese spaceship has own features Xie Mingbao, director of the manned space program office, told a press conference organized by the State Council Information Office that although Chinese experts have learned much from their Russian counterparts in spaceship designing, Shenzhou-5 is not a replica of Russia's spacecraft and it is more comfortable for astronaut and has more functions. Shenzhou-5, the largest of its kind in the world, had an orbit module designed to remain in orbit for longer time to conduct scientific experiments, Xie said. The officer said that the successful launch and landing of Shenzhou-5 indicates that China has made breakthroughs and mastered the know-how of manned spaceship and accomplished the objectives set for the first step of manned space flight program, making China the third nation in the world that has sent a human into space," said Xie. Xie cited the precision landing point of the re-entry module, which is only 4.8 kilometers away from the planned spot. Xie described China's first spaceman Yang Liwei as "astonishingly wonderful." In reply to a question of why live TV show was not made on the launch and landing, Xie said that live show or not is not directlyassociated with the success or not of the space launch and what weconcerned about most is how to organize well the launch and ensureits success, adding that "we were fully confident of the success of the mission before the launch and facts have testified to it." Xie gave a detailed account of the return and landing of the spaceship. He said that the ground command fed the return data to the spaceship when it was orbiting the Earth for the last time andthe spaceship began to execute the return orders when it reached the space over the southwestern part of Africa.
|
