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China says it has plans to go back into space After astronaut lands

Posted on: Friday, 17 October 2003, 06:00 CDT

Within hours of the safe return of the Shenzhou 5 orbital mission, China pledged Thursday to return to space within one or two years, as officials outlined a short-term agenda that included space walks, docking and the possible construction of a space lab or station. The swift commitment to more space exploration underscored the confidence and enthusiasm infused into the space program by the Shenzhou V mission, which established China as the third nation to send an astronaut into space. The astronaut, Lieutenant Colonel Yang Liwei, is being hailed as a national hero and was lavished with praise by the country's leaders.

It is a splendid moment in the history of my motherland and also the greatest day of my life, Yang, a former fighter pilot, said minutes after landing, according to the government's New China News Agency. He was quickly flown to Beijing, where he passed a physical examination. Later in the day, during an interview on state television, he described the wonders of space and also what he did not see. The scenery was very beautiful, he said. But I did not see the Great Wall. It is often said that China's Great Wall is the only manmade object visible from space. The space program's director for manned space engineering, Zhou Xiaofei, said at a news conference in Beijing that China had busy space plans in coming years, including another manned Shenzhou mission within a year or two. He listed the program's immediate priorities as, in order, space walking, mastering the docking of space vehicles and establishing a space lab.

Our plans are in their first stages, he said of a space lab. The space lab won't be anything like Mir or the International Space Station.

In addition, Chinese officials are planning within three years to begin orbiting and exploring the Moon with unmanned probes and to build a Hubble-like space telescope. There is even talk of a Mars mission one day. The government also offered a rare glimpse into its budget, saying that the manned space program, including the first four unmanned launches, had cost about $2.2 billion. Western analysts say that the Chinese program is very thrifty but that the $2.2 billion figure seems remarkably low. Estimates of China's entire annual space budget are typically about $2 billion Xie Mingbao, a chief engineer with China's manned space program, acknowledged at the news conference that China still lagged behind the United States and Russia in space technology and said China would like to cooperate with any other country in sharing and developing advances. The United States and Russia are much more experienced than we are, and we're quite willing to learn from them, Xie said, according to a report from state news media. The United States has been leery of space partnerships with China because of concerns of transferring any technology that could have military applications. As space program officials chartered their future, Chinese government officials were already cranking up their publicity machine. The government will print 10.2 million sets of commemorative stamps in honor of the mission. Meanwhile, Yang has already become as visible on television as President Hu Jintao. He's our space hero and our national hero, Zhou said. We'll certainly promote the good quality he embodies, and this will give a boost to patriotic feeling and inspire our scientists to keep up with their good work.

The Communist Party's leading newspaper, the People's Daily, was planning a full-page account in its Friday editions on Yang, including personal details like his affinity for playing guitar and harmonica, according to the Xinhua News Agency. The People's Daily also will editorialize that at this proud moment, the sons and daughters of China are incomparably proud and confident.

In fact, it is still hard to gauge the depth of public enthusiasm for the mission and how much domestic good will it will generate for the government. In random interviews in Beijing and Shanghai, many people said they had never heard of the Shenzhou 5. But many others had followed developments closely and expressed deep pride that China was maturing into a technological power. This is so great! said Mao Deying, 57, a retired bank employee visiting Shanghai on vacation. So amazing! China really becomes strong now. We should put in more money to develop technologies.

Several other people, while excited about the space program, said it did not change their opinion of the Communist Party for the better or worse. One man in Beijing said he had not been paying attention because he was busy filing a complaint that a government agency had destroyed his mother's house. A woman said she thought that the space program was worthwhile but that other branches of government were hopelessly corrupt. The corruption of government officials is really a huge waste of money, she said.

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