Discussion: Chinese Launch is a Success

[Fraser]

SUMMARY: China has entered its final countdown in preparation for its first manned flight – Shenzhou 5 is expected to lift off Wednesday, October 15 carrying a single astronaut. The current top candidate is Yang Liwei, a 38-year old from the Suizhong county in the province of Liaoning. China was originally going to broadcast the launch live, but then decided against it, concerned of the public relations fallout if something goes wrong. State television will probably provide video of the launch… only if it lifts off successfully. Shenzhou 5 will stay up for approximately 20 hours and make 14 orbits of the Earth before landing in the desert.


Comments or questions about this story? Feel free to share your thoughts.

[WendellG]

Good for China!

[NetNinja]

Good Luck and God speed China! h34r:

[DippyHippy]

They've done it... launched at 0100 GMT, today, Wed 15th October 2003... I've posted the story from the BBC in the "Other Stories" forum...

Dips

[Chuck_Gagarin]

This is great news... I hope that decades from now we'll remember this is the precipitating incident that galvanized some renewed urgency in NASA's own human spaceflight efforts... It's been interesting to follow the scrutiny given to the Chinese ship's unique solar panel arrangement and orbital module; apparently they have come up with a novel way to fast-track the construction of a small space station - probably something halfway between the Salyut vehicles and (eventually) Mir in scale. It may be the case that by the time the Orbital Space Plane is in service on the ISS, the neighborhood will start to get a little cozier...

[Guest]

good news and congratulations!

[AstroStart.nl]

Who won the 'guess date'-game?

[lumlumpi]

[SIZE=7]Hello, I am a chinese that living in China mainland. Few days ago, I contacted with some oversea chineses, they just thought it was waste of money and government should put the people in china first...they seem to be right, but I believe that our current goverment always think twice before they carry out a project.

[zephyr46]

I read the cover of the Economist magazine, Headline "Congratulations China (So, no need for any more aid, then?)
Right wing morons! Yeah, the money could have gone to feeding the hungry, but so could the spending on weapons of the world over! A lot of Corporate Lunches Corporate Welfare and Corporate salaries! :angry:
Djuk Djuk China
Keep Going
Goodluck to India as well, best wishes to both countries, may the race to the moon lift your prosperity and benifit all humainty