The Chinese are in Space

[Bullika]

China spacecraft orbit corrected

The two astronauts were said to be feeling comfortable
Astronauts on China's Shenzhou VI spacecraft have adjusted its trajectory after it started moving too close to the Earth, state media has said.
The operation, carried out late on Thursday, took just a few seconds, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The agency described the tweak, during the craft's 30th orbit of the Earth, as a "normal technical operation".

Shenzhou VI is in a low enough orbit to be affected by the Earth's gravitational pull.

CHINA'S SPACE PROGRAMME
1958: Base for space flights built at Jiuquan, in Gobi desert
April 1970: First satellite launched
Nov 1999: Unmanned Shenzhou I launched
Oct 2003: First manned space mission on Shenzhou V
Oct 2005: Shenzhou VI takes two men into space


Reaching for the stars
Chinese speak of hopes

The adjustment, which was carried out by firing the craft's rockets, altered the spacecraft's altitude by 800 metres (2,625 feet), the People's Daily said.

Space experts say such adjustments are routine.

Experiments which astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng carried out on Thursday to test the stability of the craft were successful, said Zheng Songhui, a consultant for the spacecraft's systems.

"The results proved that the spacecraft was fully capable of enduring all the disturbances, and then astronauts would be allowed to move in a relatively free way," he was quoted as saying.

THE ASTRONAUTS

Fei Junlong, 40 (left), and Nie Haisheng, 41
Both married with one child
Formerly in the air force - have more than 3,200 hours flying time between them
Joined space training programme in '98
Dining on Chinese specialities in space but chopsticks too difficult to use

The mission is expected to see the Shenzhou VI orbit the Earth for about five days.

The space capsule will land in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia, and the authorities have reportedly warned nomads and herdsmen in the area to watch out for falling objects.

The current mission comes almost exactly two years after China's first manned space flight.

Beijing has attached great importance to its space programme, viewing it as a source of national pride and international prestige.

China hopes to set up a space station within five years and eventually it wants to put an astronaut on the moon.

[brother]

I bet the chinese will accomplish more in a shorter period of time than the US and Russia.

[city]

[cannedmoose]

Quite how many people will die in the process is another question. The Chinese have a Soviet Union-esque stance when it comes to individual human lives... It wouldn't surprise me to see a number of fatal accidents in their drive towards space...

[Bullika]

[Bullika]

[cannedmoose]

I agree with MOK... the Russians thought nothing of sending Cosmonauts to Mir for long periods of time, essentially as human guinea-pigs to test the effect on the human body of prolonged weightlessness and penetration by cosmic rays. The result being that these people now have a drastically shortened life span. I think China may be the first to Mars, whether the astronauts they send will come back as anything more than mush is another question entirely.

[Xenos 2Fan]

Before venturing to Mars I think we need to solve the issue of 0 gravity and create artificial gravity on the Mars vessel or as Moose pointed out they'll have to scoop the cosmonauts up with a ladle upon their return.

[cannedmoose]

Although the gravity issue is important certainly, the other major problem is that which Mehmet referred to, i.e. solar radiation. Cosmic rays which we are relatively safe from on earth pass straight through spacecraft and anything therein, leaving microscopic, but significant damage at the cellular level. So, while astronauts can reduce the impact of zero gravity through frequent exercise, they aren't safe from cell damage caused by this radiation. The only way to protect them would be shielding of the spacecraft which would make it too heavy to launch in one go and would require construction in orbit... something which the Chinese don't have the capacity to do and are unlikely to have for the near future at least. The result of astronauts being bombarded like this would be the virtually certainty of their contracting cancer and a marked reduction in their lifespan. This has been observed with some of the Mir Cosmonauts from the former USSR.

My belief is that any mission to Mars should be a collective effort - with representatives from all the major space players (US, Russia, Europe, China, Japan), as well as from other continents wherever possible. Somehow though, I sense we're in for another rush to see who can plant their silly little flag on Mars first... we'll never learn...

[thebrix]

[brother]