China Prepares First Manned Space Mission

Oct. 7, 2003 -- -- The countdown clock is running at the Jiuquan Space Center on the edge of the Gobi Desert in northern China.

The mission? Launch China's first man into space — a mission that could ignite a new space race.

The Schenzou 5 spacecraft looks remarkably similar to the Russian Soyuz, but the Schenzou is 13 percent bigger, with improved propulsion, control and guidance systems. It also has a second set of solar panels.

The Schenzou is capable of carrying three Chinese astronauts — called "taikonauts." The command module sits atop a service module to be launched on a Chang Zheng 2F rocket.

The 30-day countdown clock started Sept. 15, so the launch could happen as early as Oct. 15. Experts expect the mission to be short — launching in daylight and landing in daylight, and lasting eight hours at the most.

China has trained a dozen taikonauts, but only one is expected to fly in this first mission. Speculation centers on Chen Long as the taikonaut most likely to rocket into low Earth orbit later this month.

Not much is known about the taikonauts. They and their families are sequestered at the training center.

What will this mission mean to the United States? Some hope it will re-ignite another space race similar to the panic set off in the United States when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in the 1950s.

Dr. Joan Johnson-Freese, of the Naval War College, has studied the Chinese Space Program for 20 years, and said the Chinese have learned from the U.S. program.

"I am convinced they read the Apollo playbook and have decided — for all the reasons the U.S. launched Apollo — a successful launch would do much the same for them," she said. "Look at the prestige value, the domestic rallying. They have plastered the country with posters of the taikonauts. This will give them legitimacy and credibility, much as bringing the Olympics to China."