Space Forum / Shuttle / September 2005

Chinese media name likely astronauts

SHANGHAI (AFP) Sep 28, 2005

China's state-run press on Wednesday named the likely astronauts to pilot
the nation's second manned space flight tenatively scheduled to be launched
during the first 20-days of October.

"At present, the team of Zhai Zhigang and Nie Haisheng has the biggest
possibility of undertaking the task of piloting the Shenzhou VI," the
Shanghai Morning Post said, citing unnamed space experts.

"But adjustments can still be made up until the last minute and no one is
willing to guarantee who will go up," it said.
Officials at the China National Space Administration refused to confirm or
deny the reports.
Zhai and Nie are one of three teams of finalists in the running to pilot the
Shenzhou VI, whittled down from a pool of 14 former fighter pilots who are
being trained as China's first generation of astronauts.

China has kept the details of its fledgling manned space program securely
under wraps, revealing little about the time of launches and the people who
will fly the craft until the last momment.

The launch date of China's historic first manned space flight, the Shenzhou
V, was only announced five days before the flight, but neither the launch
nor the return of the capsule were broadcast live on television.
Yang Liwei, China's first man in space, was chosen to fly the Shenzhou V
only hours before the launch.
"At present the Shenzhou VI is still undergoing the testing of its systems,
but it can be confirmed that the launch will happen in the first 20 days of
October," the paper said.

The timing matched the "likely" date of October 13 that was reported on
Sunday by the China News Service.
Both reports cautioned that the weather or any last minute adjustments to
the spacecraft and its Long March 2F carrier rocket could push back the
launch date.

The Shenzhou VI is expected to orbit Earth for five days with the two
astronauts conducting experiments in the flight module and an orbital
vehicle that will remain in space for months after the astronauts return to
earth.

China, the third country to put a man in space following the former Soviet
Union and the United States, hopes to launch a mission to probe the moon by
2007 and land an unmanned vehicle on it by 2017.