China Prepares for Shenzhou VI Space Flight 13 October – Agency
Text of report by Wang Qing entitled: “Roundup: Shenzhou VI preliminarily scheduled to lift-off in Jiuquan on 13 October”; carried by Hong Kong-based news agency Zhongguo Tongxun She
Hong Kong, 23 September: China’s aerospace departments are seizing the time to make final preparations for the lift-off of “Shenzhou VI”. Hong Kong media disclosed that it has been preliminarily scheduled to launch “Shenzhou VI” at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Base at 11.00 on the morning of 13 October. The spaceship is to return to the earth five days after it lifts off, that is, at 10.00 on the morning of 18 October. However, the time for the launch still has to be finalized depending on the weather and the situation of the preparations by that time.
It has been pointed out that “Shenzhou V” was launched at 9.00 in the morning the year before last. The reason why the time close to noon has been chosen for launching “Shenzhou VI” this time is mainly because the rise in temperature at noon is more advantageous for the working personnel to make final preparations for “Shenzhou VI” and is also easier to provide full protection for the astronauts’ personal safety should any accident occur. If nothing goes wrong, “Shenzhou VI” will take a flight of 119 hours.
It has been learned that the meteorological expert group that takes part in launching “Shenzhou VI” has been working on the launch base and it is responsible for providing the most accurate weather forecast. An expert pointed out that “Shenzhou I” and “Shenzhou II” were respectively launched in the small hours of the morning and at midnight, “Shenzhou III” was launched at 22.25 in the evening, and “Shenzhou IV” was launched in the small hours of the morning. The launch time for both “Shenzhou V” and “Shenzhou VI” is in the daytime. The main reason is to provide greater safety for the astronauts because these spaceships are manned spaceships.
At present, the last round of assembly and inspection of the “Shenzhou VI” manned spaceship and the Changzheng [Long March] 2F rocket are being carried out at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Base. It has been learned that the weight of “Shenzhou VI” will increase by 200 kg for carrying two astronauts. An aerospace expert taking part in the development and manufacture of the spaceship said that the key points in designing “Shenzhou VI” are to optimize the setup of the whole spaceship, make rational arrangements for the on-orbit working modes of the newly added equipment, ensure the energy balance of the spaceship, and further increase the reliability and safety of the spaceship.
As what was done before launching “Shenzhou V”, three groups with a total of six astronauts are available to be finally chosen for “Shenzhou VI” in the countdown period. Zhai Zhigang, who was once Yang Liwei’s close comrade-in-arms, and Nie Haisheng are one of the three final groups. As viewed from various data and analyses, the “Zhai-Nie” group should be the strongest group with the greatest confidence. It is quite probable that this group will embark on “Shenzhou VI”. However, this still depends on what happens in the last minute.
A researcher concerned said that “Shenzhou VI” is not just a duplicate of “Shenzhou V” at all. Over 100 technological modifications have been made in “Shenzhou VI”. The prolonged flight of “Shenzhou VI” will also be conducive to scientific research. “Shenzhou VI” will carry more subjects of experiment up the space. During the long flight, the two astronauts will be able to take off their 10 kg space suits, open the door between the return cabin and the orbit cabin, and enter for the first time the orbit cabin to conduct scientific experiments. In the cabin of “Shenzhou VI”, sleeping bags are provided in order to make the astronauts more comfortable; and the two astronauts can also warm up their food, do some sanitary work, and take a rest in turn.