(CN) Animal astronauts to undergo experiments

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South China Morning Post - Thursday, January 11, 2001

by CLARA LI and AGENCIES http://china.scmp.com/

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Unlike its predecessor in November 1999, the Shenzhou II - or Magic Vessel No 2

- spacecraft launched yesterday was carrying a number of special " passengers " .

They included animals and tissue samples from plants and micro-organisms

provided by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

" These 'passengers' are expected to join a series of experiments in space, which

will be the first tests of their kind carried out by Chinese scientists, " Xinhua

said without saying what animals or specimens were on board.

 

During the flight, experiments on space life sciences, space materials,

astronomy and physics will be conducted, Xinhua said. " It is the first time that

China has carried out a large-scale, multi-disciplinary space test in its own

spacecraft, " Xinhua quoted a launch site expert as saying.

 

Chen Lan, an independent analyst who runs the " Go Taikonauts " Web site, said he

expected the craft to be carrying small animals such as rats, rather than

monkeys.

 

Shenzhou II was launched from Jiuquan Satellite Centre in Gansu province atop a

Long March 2-F booster rocket early yesterday morning in temperatures of minus

13 degrees Celsius.

 

Analysts believe the Shenzhou II will be given a tougher workout this time round

as China's space programme works towards putting a man in space.

 

" More unmanned test flights will be launched to pave the way for sending Chinese

astronauts into space in the end, " said a spokesman for the China Manned Space

Programme.

 

Xinhua said the Shenzhou II was made up of an orbital module, a returning module

and booster rockets.

 

The Shenzhou II capsule was an improvement over its predecessor, its structure

and technology " basically identical to a manned space aircraft " . The Long March

rocket, too, featured upgraded troubleshooting and safety systems.

 

In November 1999, Shenzhou I orbited the earth 14 times during a 21-hour flight

before it landed in Inner Mongolia.

 

Hanging over the control panel of the capsule yesterday was a banner

congratulating Beijing on its bid for the 2008 Olympic Games, a Chinese national

flag and a flag of the Macau Special Administrative Region.

 

Apart from their content, another difference between the two spacecrafts was

that the Shenzhou II included an emergency exit for astronauts.

 

Similar to the 1999 launch, the Shenzhou II appears be modelled on the design of

the Russian-built Soyuz capsule, although it is 13 per cent larger and could

carry four astronauts, rather than three.

 

A Beijing-based Western space expert said the launch had been delayed several

months by problems. China was not expected to put a man in space for several

years. " They probably need two or three years before they put a man in space as

it is a very risky enterprise and failure would have a very negative impact on

the whole programme, " he said.