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Chinese Yuhangyuan Could Reach Space In Fortnight
Hong Kong - Sep 30, 2003 Excitement and tension is mounting as the liftoff of the first ever Chinese manned spaceflight is rapidly approaching. Barring from major technical issues and inclement weather, the historic Shenzhou-5 mission (SZ-5, Shenzhou means "Divine Vessel" or "Magic Vessel") would likely be launched between Oct. 11 and 17, Wen Wei Po reported here last Wednesday (Sept. 24). Unidentified sources told the newspaper that the widely reported launch date of Oct. 10 was "a speculation [and] incorrect." These sources added that based on the current status of the launch preparation and the average weather conditions at this time of the year, the daytime liftoff would happen "within a week after Oct. 10." Launch processing has been progressing well. Lin Wenjie, a designer of the control system on the Changzheng-2F (CZ-2F, or Long March-2F) rocket, told Wenzhou Evening News on Sept. 17 that launch processing crews at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre (JSLC) in the northwestern Gansu Province had just completed the integration of SZ-5 with CZ-2F. Both SZ-5 and its CZ-2F launcher, which the former President Jiang Zemin dubbed "Shenjian" ("Divine Arrow" or "Magic Arrow"), arrived at the Chinese manned flight spaceport in late August. The two vehicles underwent integration and further testing in a vertical fashion at the massive Vertical Assembly and Testing Building (VATB). The launcher had passed all three stages of testing prior to integrating with SZ-5. The first stage involved testing of five major electrical subsystems on CZ-2F: control system, utility system, telemetry, tracking and command (TT&C) system. The second stage included coupling tests to verify the working of various subsystems together. The last stage was a comprehensive testing of the entire rocket. Due to the significance of the mission the General Armament Department of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), which has the sole responsibility for the launch of SZ-5, has implemented unprecedented strict security measures.
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