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Report: Pilot of China's First Manned Spacecraft Named
By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer
posted: 02:35 pm ET
06 January 2003
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www Over the weekend, China television (CCTV) broadcast an intriguing behind-the-scenes look at preparations for sending Chinese astronauts aloft, perhaps later this year. Post-landing video of Sunday's touchdown of the Shenzhou 4 reentry module clearly showed at least two heavily instrumented mannequins inside the recovered spaceship. Meanwhile, Sing Tao Daily has identified one pilot in training: Chen Long. The media outlet quoted sources as saying Chen has gotten the nod to pilot Shenzhou, to be lofted into Earth orbit by a Long March rocket. An unnamed back-up astronaut has also been selected, Sing Tao Daily reported. Both are jet jockeys picked from the Chinese Air Force. There is considerable speculation as to whether a Shenzhou 5 might carry more than one person, given the size of the vehicle and flight of multiple mannequins on the last two test flights. China space watcher, Phillip Clark, said that if a crew is onboard Shenzhou, the Chinese will have leap-frogged over 'man in a can', single-seater flights in the U.S. Mercury and Russian Vostok programs. In fact, having two to three people fly in a maneuverable Shenzhou on a weeklong mission, he added, puts the Chinese into second-generation spaceflight, more akin to the U.S. Gemini program. "It will be interesting to see what pre-launch information comes out about that first piloted flight," Clark told SPACE.com. "Will we be drip-fed information over the next eight months or so, with only the actual launch date and time not announced until maybe the day before launch?" Clark also wondered whether or not the Chinese will have the confidence to broadcast the launch live.
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