Posted on 10/14/2003 3:49:17 PM PDT by bonesmccoy
Thumbs up for China’s space launch
But Beijing decides against live telecast; preparations veiled in traditional secrecy
JIUQUAN, China, Oct. 15 — Keeping his identity secret, China prepared its first astronaut for space travel Tuesday and loaded his rocket with fuel — but said the public and the world would have to wait to learn whether the flight succeeds. The Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily said the launch would “most probably” happen Wednesday morning, which translates to Tuesday evening ET.
STATE TELEVISION scrapped plans for a live broadcast of the launch. A Hong Kong newspaper said the cancellation was prompted by fears of the “political risks” of something going wrong. A successful flight would make China the third nation to put a human into space on its own — a propaganda prize in which communist leaders have invested 11 years of secretive preparation and untold resources. Communist leaders hope the history-making launch will boost China’s standing abroad and, more important, help the party’s image among a populace weary of corruption and other abuses. The three finalists to become China’s first “taikonaut” (TYE’-koh-nawt) were reportedly waiting at a Gobi Desert launch base near this dusty city of concrete apartment buildings in the remote northwest. Security was tight around the remote base, some 175 miles (280 kilometers) northeast of Jiuquan: Cars were turned back and phone calls to the base were blocked. “It’s a big thing for the country,” said Zhang Ming, a man buying a leather jacket in Jiuquan on Tuesday.
WHO WILL FLY? The astronaut candidates, all fighter pilots, were to undergo final tests as little as one hour before the flight, state media said. The government’s Xinhua News Agency has said the “No. 1 astronaut” among them would go up — the strongest sign yet that the flight will carry only one person. People’s Daily said the Shenzhou 5 capsule had completed its own final tests and, on Tuesday, was “sitting on the launch pad with more fuel being injected.” It said top Chinese leaders, including President Hu Jintao, were to attend the launch.
“The launch of Shenzhou 5 is long-awaited by the Chinese people,” said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue. She said the flight was a key step in the “peaceful development of space” — a reflection of China’s effort to reassure the world that its military-linked program is benign. The Shenzhou, or “Divine Vessel,” is based on the three-seat Russian Soyuz capsule, though with extensive modifications. China also paid Moscow to train at least two astronauts. But Beijing insists everything sent into space will be developed and made in China. State media, trying to dispel suggestions that its triumph depends on foreign know-how, refer to Shenzhou as “China’s self-designed manned spaceship.” Xinhua quoted space officials Tuesday assuring the public that the astronauts’ spacesuits were safe and the Long March CZ-2 F booster was China’s “best rocket.”
CONFIDENCE AND CONCERN After months of official silence, the government showed growing confidence over the past week, announcing that the flight would blast off sometime between Wednesday and Friday and splashing pictures of the once-secret launch base across newspapers. Advertisement
But the decision to cancel a live broadcast suggested leaders might be unnerved by the thought of the propaganda disaster that an accident could produce. The People’s Daily Web site gave no explanation for the decision to cancel. China used to broadcast satellite launches live, but stopped in 1995 after a rocket blew up moments after liftoff, reportedly killing six people on the ground. The Shenzhou 5 launch comes after four test launches of unmanned capsules that orbited the Earth for nearly a week before parachuting back to China’s northern grasslands. State media say the manned flight is expected to last 14 orbits or about 20 hours. State television planned to broadcast taped scenes of the launch only if it succeeds, the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post said, citing “media sources.” State-run China Central Television would not confirm the report. “There might be a live broadcast, or there might not,” a CCTV spokeswoman, who refused to give her name, told The Associated Press. “CCTV employees aren’t allowed to answer that question.”
DECISION CRITICIZED Dozens of messages left on Chinese Web sites taunted officials for their decision and demanded that the government show its people the historic launch as it happens. Such sites are monitored by censors who enforce official rules on content and sometimes erase postings, which suggested the negative postings were genuine. “The decision is very idiotic and reflects our nation’s lack of confidence,” said a note on the popular Sina.com Web site, signed Flyying111. The Gansu Daily, published in the provincial capital, Lanzhou, welcomed the imminent launch. “Finally,” it said, “the time has come to realize the 1,000-year dream of flying dreamed by the sons and daughters of China.”
THANKS ORVILLE AND WILBER WRIGHT December 17, 1903.
This one could be panned sharpened.
According to one ancient legend, a Chinese official named Wan-Hoo attempted a flight to the moon using a large wicker chair to which were fastened 47 large rockets. Forty seven assistants, each armed with torches, rushed forward to light the fuses. In a moment there was a tremendous roar accompanied by billowing clouds of smoke. When the smoke cleared, the flying chair and Wan-Hu were gone.?
Any idea when that drawing was done? The Chinese 'characters' aren't actually Chinese (unless its some wierd style I've never seen), so my guess is that its a modern non-Chinese artist.
Don't be ashamed of NASA. Be ashamed of Congress and the last several administrations for forcing out the folks who had the guts to say "no, that's wrong." The people who remained were the ones who were willing to go along, despite the problems, cut budgets, bizarre politicized misstions and all the other crap because they felt that the alternative was no space program at all. They hoped that they could make it work. That's all they're guilty of, being wrong. But they tried.
And once you're done being ashamed of the politicians you should be ashamed of us. We, the people, let this one slip away from us. It wasn't important to us, therefore it wasn't important to the politicians. Those who pushed the space program were laughed at as sci-fi fans and dreamers, wasting the tax payers money which could be used for better things, more bennies, here on Earth. I tried to talk to my Senator on a visit to Washington one time, Algore himself, who was on the Space and Science sub committee. He fobbed me off on one of his aids (no problem there, I'm just a constituent) who proceeded to ask me if I was serious in advocating spending money on space when we have so many problems here at home. From that day forward I worked hard to see him defeated every chance I got.
NASA is damaged goods, but most of the people who work there are the good guys. When private enterprise gets into the game in a big way (when, not if) it will be those folks who leave government service and make up the core of the workforce to get it done.
Sorry, you touched a nerve.
Giggle, I actually know the term "panned sharpened", since I have implemented that with my own software.
I blame Sagan, Proxmire, Congress as a whole, and every President since JFK, present one included. But we ought to work on setting things right; placing blame won't do what needs to be done.
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