Heavenly pursuits

charlie

Heavenly pursuits
China has sent its first man into space, who landed safely after orbiting Earth 14 times. Why, and what will it do next?

AMID an outpouring of national pride, and some mutterings about cost, China has finally achieved its decades-old ambition to launch a man into space. After a 21-hour flight in which his craft orbited Earth 14 times, astronaut Yang Liwei landed, as planned, in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia in the early hours of Thursday October 16th. He can expect a hero’s welcome, in much the same way as Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard inspired their countrymen. “I feel very good and I am proud of my motherland,” Xinhua news agency reported Mr Yang as saying.

China is now a member of an exclusive space club of just three countries. First and foremost, the flight was a great piece of international public relations. It was for this reason that the normally secretive China has been relatively open about its aims to launch an astronaut on Shenzhou 5. Nonetheless, nervous officials decided at the last minute not to risk a live launch, on the Long March-2F rocket, on television.
The launch is also excellent domestic propaganda for the government. Although there is much genuine national pride, the government has done its best to whip up a nationalistic frenzy. Chinese state television stirred up the public with a documentary of the history of the nation’s space programme called "Shaking the Heavens". President Hu Jintao watched the launch and said: "It was the glory of our great motherland and a mark for the initial victory of the country’s first manned space-flight." Most Chinese seem pleased at their country’s success, although some are questioning whether the money could have been better spent. Those in neighbouring countries, such as Japan, have not been so pleased, feeling it is part of a threatening trend of growing Chinese might.

Although China is not the first, or even second, country to launch humans into space, this will not dent its sense of pride. The Russian programme has been declining for years. America, to much embarrassment, cannot launch humans at all—its unreliable shuttle is grounded. The Japanese and the Europeans, meanwhile, failed in their plans to put people into space. The launch is also making a big impression on the Indian government, which has long held ambitions to catch up with the Chinese in space. India responded to news of the launch, earlier this year, by telling its scientists to work towards putting a man on the moon.

With talk of a Chinese moon mission, there is speculation about a new "space race" with America. This remains to be seen. Every other government has found it difficult to justify funding human space-flight in the long term, due to the rapidly diminishing returns it brings. Until countries find a real economic reason to be in space, there is nothing to race for.



Superpower envy
The roots of China's space ambitions can be traced to the 1960s, when the country was developing its intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear capabilities. Watching the superpower space race, plans were also hatched for a Chinese human space-flight programme. The problem, though, was that China had neither the money nor the technological skill to achieve it. Political upheavals saw space-flight ambitions revitalised, and cancelled, twice during the 1970s. Only in 1992 did Jiang Zemin approve project 921 (as it was known), which ultimately built the Shenzhou spacecraft

How much of Shenzhou 5 is Chinese? Phillip Clark, a consultant and expert on the Chinese space programme, says that China has taken the "philosophy" of Russia’s Soyuz and designed its own innards using home-grown technology. It has been reported that project 921 has so far cost around $2 billion. But, as Mr Clark says, it is not known whether this is for the complete manned programme or simply for the spacecraft and the launch vehicle.

Although the launch is about the prestige of launching a man into space, the project is also a military one, says Mr Clark. The work of the manned programme is likely to contribute to improved military space systems. It will allow the Chinese to spy on military radar transmissions. Shenzhou 5 probably carried a military experiment on the unmanned orbital module that will remain in space after Mr Yang's descent to Earth.



What next?
The Chinese also have grand plans for the future. Some of these look likely to materialise, such as follow-up piloted missions on further Shenzhou craft in the next year. It is also likely that an occasionally manned "space station", constructed of docked pieces of the craft, will appear in the next few years. China also wants to build a space telescope like America's Hubble. And having a human launch capability will increase pressure on the Americans to allow the Chinese to participate in the International Space Station—something they have long coveted but have so far not been allowed to do. But other plans, such as a manned mission to the moon, remain firmly in the realms of science fiction.

But the most interesting parts of the space programme are the unmanned parts. China wants state-of-the-art military reconnaissance in an era when wars are won by information and intelligence rather than sheer numbers. The country has plans for better satellite communications, broadcasting, weather forecasting and earth observation—all of which will have a dual civilian role. It also wants to build its own satellite-navigation constellation, or global positioning system (GPS). In September, China became involved in European plans for its own GPS constellation, known as Galileo, which will compete against an American system that is already up and running.

After the Chinese launch party, there is also the sobering fact that having an international status symbol is also a liability—especially for a country that is normally secretive. Every other country has found that government-financed space projects are a barometer of both its fortunes and misfortunes. Already, questions are being asked about why a developing country such as China needs international aid when it is financing a $2 billion human space programme.

bigben

good topic.
to evaluate China's humen space-flight prgrame, we could not stand on common points. China is facing complicated international relationship and internal uniting question, and must show her power to deal with all of them.
Big affair is not simple affair for ever.

charlie

small one-man journey for Yang,a great lift for Chinese nation