‘ I feel good,’ Chinese astronaut says from space
Five-day mission ‘ for peaceful purposes,’ Chinese Premier says
JIUQUAN, CHINA •
China launched its second manned space mission yesterday, sending two astronauts into orbit as it opened a new chapter in its ambitious drive to become a global space power.
Shenzhou VI, based on Soviet Soyuz technology, lifted off on a Long March 2F carrier rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre at 9 a.m. for a five-day mission, carrying air force pilots Fei Junlong, 40, and Nie Haisjeng, 41. It entered a fixed orbit 21 minutes later.
Having two crew on board is a departure from October, 2003, when Yang Liwei spent 21 hours on a solo odyssey, a mission that made China only the third country after the United States and the former Soviet Union to send a person into space.
“I feel good,” said Mr. Fei in his first transmission from the craft.
The two astronauts — whom the Chinese call “taikonauts” — were seen off at the launch pad in northwest China’s Gansu province by Premier Wen Jiabao, who said he believed they “will accomplish the glorious and sacred mission.”
Amid some concern China could use space for military purposes, Mr. Wen said his country’s aim in conducting scientific experiments in space was “entirely for peaceful purposes” and to promote science.
TV images showed the two astronauts comfortably flipping and reading flight books after going into space. This indicated they felt at ease and more comfortable than first Chinese astronaut, Mr. Yang, who felt a strong tremor about two minutes after liftoff, Xinhua said.
State television carried blanket coverage of the launch, using a slightly modified version of the theme from the 1970s U.S. cult sci-fi series
Battlestar Galactica as background music. Millions of Chinese are estimated to have been glued to their TV sets watching the historic moment.
The astronauts are expected to conduct experiments and scientific research in the orbital capsule.
“They’ll do quite a lot of medical tests, they’ll take blood tests, urine tests, and they will also work out what kind of space food works for them,” said Brian Harvey, the Dublin-based author of a book on China’s space ambitions.
“Because ultimately what they are planning is a space station ... and to do that they will need to learn how to survive on longer missions.”
The fact that yesterday’s mission carried two astronauts reflects the twin purposes of China’s space program, which aims for both scientific gains and kudos at home and abroad.
“If you are two people, you can do more complicated and more sophisticated types of work and experimentation,” said Joan Johnson-Freese, an expert on China’s space program at the U.S. Naval War College.
“Part of it is also prestige. Two people is harder than one person.”
Shenzhou VI — the name means “divine vessel” — is expected to circle the Earth in a pre-set orbit for the next 119 hours, or nearly five days, before landing in the Inner Mongolian grasslands in north China.
Spending on the Shenzhou series of launches has reached roughly 19 billion yuan ($ 2.7- billion).
In the city of Jiuquan, several hours’ drive from the satellite launch centre, a sense of local pride was clearly visible, with large posters wishing for a successful launch seen outside hotels.
“We’re very happy about all this,” said Ma Li, a teenage resident.
“It’s amazing that we Chinese gradually have the know-how to pull this kind of thing off.”
Underlining how far China has to catch up to space powers Russia and the United States, a Russian capsule carrying a cosmonaut, a U.S. astronaut and an U.S. space tourist returned to Earth on Tuesday from the International Space Station.
The former Soviet Union and the United States put their first men into space in 1961.