Expansionary Institute

China Plans 4th Space Launch, Then Will Send Human (Dominionization) (With ILLUSTRATION),

China Plans 4th Space Launch, Then Will Send Human

.c The Associated Press

BEIJING (AP)- China is preparing to launch a fourth unmanned space capsule later this year in what would be its final test before sending a human into space, state-run media reported Sunday.

Preparations for the launch of the unmanned craft are ``progressing smoothly,'' the official Xinhua News Agency quoted a top government aerospace official Hu Hongfu as saying.

The launch of the Shenzhou - or divine vessel - will take place later this year, said Hu, a top official with the state-run company that developed the craft and rockets that will blast it into space.

The three Shenzhou capsules already launched are technically capable of carrying a crew, and state media have said China plans to put a human into space within three years. If successful, that would make China the third country able to do so on its own, after Russia and the United States.

The third Shenzhou capsule was launched in March and carried a mannequin in a space suit.

China's has poured enormous amounts of funding and effort into its secretive, military-linked space program, regarding it as a symbol both of national prestige and the country's growing technological and economic might.

The Shenzhou is believed to be an updated version of early Russian space craft and has been developed with help from Russian scientists. Chinese astronauts, known as ``taikonauts'' after the Chinese word for space, are believed to have trained at Russian installations.
11/03/02 10:25 EST

Copyright 2002 The Associated Press.

Will China Become the Major Player in Space in the 21st Century?

Mon Nov 4