In a report carried by China's People's Daily news service today, the Shenzhou 5 liftoff is expected later this month.
Over the last week, Oct. 15 has been cited by various sources as the chosen takeoff date. Previously, however, China's space authorities said that weather at the launch site, as well as the overall condition of the space environment -- pulsed by solar flares, doses of cosmic rays and radiation fluctuations -- would also be taken into account before a launch go-ahead is given.
Daylong mission
According to the People's Daily, the Shenzhou 5 is to orbit the Earth 14 times during a 21-hour flight -- followed by the vehicle's passenger-carrying module parachuting to Earth. Earlier, some Chinese news outlets reported the mission would last only 90-minutes -- one single orbit of Earth.
Whether more than one pilot is to fly the Shenzhou 5 remains unclear.
China's Liberation Daily, citing "relevant channels," explained that the Shenzhou 5 would be first placed into an oval orbit, with the spacecraft dipping down to 125 miles (200 kilometers) above Earth. After several orbits, the craft would maneuver into an orbit about 220 miles (350 kilometers) from Earth, the report said.
Left-in-space module
The Liberation Daily quoted Qi Farun, chief designer of Shenzhou V, as saying that plans for launching a manned space mission stretch back some 11 years.
Qi said that four previous unpiloted flights of the Shenzhou -- in November 1999, January 2001, and in March and December of 2002 -- have led to improvements in the spacecraft.
As has been the case for earlier unpiloted shakeout flights of the Shenzhou, a solar-powered orbital module will be left in orbit and used for research for up to six months.
British space analyst, Phillip Clark told SPACE.com that this left-in-space module might carry a high-resolution reconnaissance camera, citing an earlier Hong Kong newspaper report.
Symbolic importance
In the Liberation Daily news account, Qi said that he is aware of some criticism of the upcoming mission.
"Even among us, there were some who believed spacecraft are too complicated, and require too large an investment, for no obvious return," Qi is quoted as saying. "Complicated things can be unsafe."
Qi noted that the Shenzhou V mission was of great symbolic importance and was an essential step to future missions.
"Earth's resources are limited and are being depleted," Qi said. Our own coal and natural gas resources are finite, but outer space holds abundant resources and treasures."
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