- (AFP) -- After months of secrecy, China confirmed it
will launch its maiden manned space mission next week with a flight that
will orbit the Earth 14 times.
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- The Xinhua news agency cited an unnamed official in charge
of the country's manned spaceflight program as saying Shenzhou V will blast
off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwest between October
15 and 17.
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- He said the craft would orbit the Earth 14 times, suggesting
the flight will last 21 hours.
-
- This would distinguish China from the former Soviet Union
and the United States, the only other nations to send a man into space,
whose maiden flights in the 1960s lasted 108 minutes and 15 minutes respectively.
-
- "The Shenzhou (Divine Vessel) V spacecraft will
carry out the first manned space mission and will lift off from the China
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center," said the official.
-
- "Now all preparatory work for the launch is progressing
smoothly."
-
- Analysts and various media have long speculated that,
weather permitting, October 15 was the favoured date, coming a day after
a key communist party meeting wraps up in Beijing.
-
- October 16 has also been cited as a possibility as it
coincides with the 39th anniversary of the detonation of China's first
atomic bomb.
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- President Hu Jintao leaves for the APEC summit in Thailand
on October 17.
-
- Xinhua is reportedly one of only three media being given
access to the launch, along with the mouthpiece People's Daily and China
Central Television, which is expected to broadcast the historic event live.
-
- China has appeared caught in a dilemma over the imminent
launch as it tries to balance the secretive needs of its military with
the overwhelming propaganda mileage and national pride that would accrue
with a successful mission.
-
- After widespread international reports on the launch,
state-run media has only begun in recent days to slowly release details
on the event.
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- Experts believe just one astronaut will make the trip,
selected from a team of 14.
-
- The official quoted by Xinhua would only say a team of
taikonauts, or astronauts, has been formed for the mission and that they
had passed "a comprehensive drill".
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- The China Daily Friday said the list had been whittled
down to three candidates of which one would be picked to man the craft.
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- It said the order of choice had been set but this could
change.
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- "Performances by these would-be astronauts at critical
moments will also count in deciding who will go to space," the paper
said, citing unidentified experts.
-
- Whoever is on board will be armed with a gun and knives
in case the capsule comes down in hostile territory, another state-run
newspaper said.
-
- The Jiefang Daily, quoting chief designer for the Shenzhou
spacecraft Qi Faren, said all possibilities had been factored in.
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- "The craft may land in the ocean or in the forests
in a hostile environment," said Qi in comments picked up by a host
of Chinese websites.
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- "For the safety of the astronauts, they will take
a lot of things with them like a pistol, knife and other rescue equipment
including a tent and liferaft so they will be able to deal with wild beasts,
sharks and other dangerous animals or enemies."
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- If all goes well, Shenzhou V is expected to land in the
vast plains of Inner Mongolia in northwest China.
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- Four unmanned Shenzhou capsules have so far been been
launched since 1999.
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