Shenzhou V blasts off into space at 9:00am ( 2003-10-14 00:19) (chinadaily.com.cn)
China's first manned spaceship, the Shenzhou 5
(Divine Vessel V) blasted off into space at 9:00 am Wednesday morning, with 38-year-old
astronaut Yang Liwei, an air force pilot since 1983, sitting in the ship who
is lauded as "China's First Space Man".
About 10 minutes after 9:00 am, China's CCTV reported
that the spaceship went into the earth's orbit, about 350 kilometres above the
planet, where the ship will orbit the earth 14 times which will take roughly 23
hours. Shenzhen 5 is expected to land at a grassland in the Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region in the early hours on Thursay Beijing time.
CCTV broadcast the launch of the rocket 20 minutes after the blast-off at
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China's Gansu Province. On Tuesday,
CCTV decided to drop its original plan of live telecast.
Yang
Liwei
According to Dahe Pao newspaper of
Henan Province, at 5:30 am Wednesday, Chinese top leaders, including President
Hu Jintao and Central Ministry Commission chairman Jiang Zemin, met Yang Liwei,
escorted by a few other fellow astronauts and officials.
At the solemn sending-off ceremony, Yang took an oath: "I will not fail the
expectations of all Chinese people and the motherland."
Yang Liwei was selected from a group of three finalists. In the past few
days, they engaged in relevant operations and tests within the Shenzhou 5
spaceship, mainly ways to escape and survive when unexpected hazards happen.
*** Top rocket sends manned craft aloft
China used its top rocket, the Long March CZ-2 F, to launch its first
manned space flight, an official with China's space programme said yesterday.
Huang Chunping, commander-in-chief of rocket systems, said
the CZ-2 F was developed based on the Long March CZ-2 E to accommodate the
technical requirements of human space flight.
With the application of 55 breakthrough technologies, including
fault-detection and escape systems, the spacecraft and rocket both have reached
advanced international levels, Huang said.
The rocket measures 58.3 metres, with a takeoff payload weight of 479.8 tons.
It is the longest and heaviest rocket China has ever developed, Huang said.
It has so far sent four unmanned Shenzhou spaceships into pre-set orbits in
space.
"The rocket that will launch the Shenzhou-5 spaceship is the best of all,''
he said. "It is of superior quality and has stood our most stringent testing,''
Huang noted.
Gu Yidong, director and chief designer of the space application system in the
space flight programme, told Xinhua that the ultimate goal for China's programme
is to explore outer space and make good use of the rich resources of space.
Gu, who also directs the Space Science and Application Research Centre at the
Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the universe is abundant with energy and
resources, while mankind, on its way to self-improvement and development, must
constantly seek new channels to acquire more resources.
Since the 1970s, many countries have conducted experiments in space and have
achieved major breakthroughs in the research of key space technologies.
Gu points out that the United States had led the world in turning space
research into industrial technologies. They have developed, tested and perfected
the breakthroughs in the US space programme, and applied them in US industries
and helped bring an estimated US$2 trillion return for the American economy.
It is expected that US investment in its space industry will reach US$500
billion to 600 billion by the year 2010.
Since 1975, China has successfully launched 17 recoverable satellites. When
those satellites have orbited the earth, a variety of space-engineering
experiments have been conducted, along with tests in areas like agriculture,
life sciences and space materials.
The United States and Russia have both set up space stations or spaceships.
Products like semiconductors, optical glass, pottery and a variety of alloys
have been produced in space.
The United States is capable of producing dozens of products in space, while
Russia has conducted 14,500 experiments in orbit, Gu said.
In order to be able to share space resources with other countries as soon as
possible, China has been vigorously developing its manned space programme, Gu
said, explaining that sending a human into space is just a "first step'' for
China's ambitious space programme.
"The second phase involves more advanced technologies such as space
rendezvous and docking, and will include the establishment of an outer space
laboratory system,'' he said.
Su Shuangning, chief designer of China's astronaut support systems, said the
space suits China has designed for its astronauts to wear are "as safe and as
reliable'' as Russian or American models.
SUIT: Safe and reliable, suits made for astronauts
He said the intravehicular suits are made of materials developed
independently.
"In design, ours do not differ much from space suits made in Russia or the
United States, but we have made a range of modifications,''
There are two types of space suits: intravehicular and extravehicular. The
Chinese astronaut (or astronauts) will not step outside the capsule in the first
space journey, and so only the intravehicular space suit is provided.
"The intravehicular space suit is used to protect astronauts when accidents
happen, say a leakage that causes the air pressure inside the spacecraft to
plummet,'' Su said.
Should that happen, he continued, the astronaut can put on the suit and
connect it to the oxygen and air-supply systems aboard, making oxygen supply
available and bringing inner-suit air pressure back to normal. "This will help
the astronaut make a safe return,'' he said.
The space suit consists of three layers, according to the expert.
The outside protective layer is made of a fabric good enough to resist
extreme temperatures and abrasion to protect inner layers. It also functions to
ensure the suit is inflated to conform to the shape and comfort of the
astronaut.
The air-tight layer is made of a fabric coated with special materials, which
prevents air leakage after pressurization. The cooling and ventilation layer
diverts heat and vapor produced from human metabolism out of the suit.
The helmet is made of a polycarbonate material,is heat- and sound-insulating,
and protects the astronaut from harm done by possible collisions. It has a
ventilation device and a visor anti-fogging coating.
Gloves fit the suit with great flexibility and warming capability, according
to Su.
An astronaut does not need to wear the space suit when the spaceship is
orbiting, he said, except when there are pressurization problems with the
spacecraft.
Huang Chunping, commander-in-chief of rocket systems, said
the CZ-2 F was developed based on the Long March CZ-2 E to accommodate the
technical requirements of human space flight.
