Will China's first human space launch be a success?

Congrats to China on a job well done...

Must not make jokes about Major Yang and his Long March Rocket.

Question: Why are their Rockets only long in March while ours are long year round?

*rimshot* cha cha cha

 

A safe return to Earth, mission accomplished.

http://space.com/missionlaunches/shenzhou5_lands_031015.html

China's First Taikonaut Safely Returns to Earth
By Christopher Bodeen

BEIJING (AP) -- China's first astronaut in space returned safely to Earth Thursday when his craft touched down on time and as planned after 21 hours in orbit, the government said.

China's mission control declared the country's landmark debut flight "a success."

The craft carrying Yang Liwei touched down on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia in northern China as planned at dawn Thursday, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Minutes later, he emerged from the capsule and waved at rescuers, state television said.

"The landing is successful," a China Central Television correspondent said. The station released an image of the capsule. The country's premier immediately spoke to Lt. Col Yang Liwei and offered his congratulations. The government said Shenzhou 5 landed at 6:28 p.m. EDT (2228 GMT).

The government said his condition was "good," and the Web site Sina.com said he would undergo an immediate physical exam. The landing came after a 21-hour mission in which Shenzhou 5 orbited the Earth 14 times. Though the government has been very secretive about its space program, it offered frequent glimpses of Yang throughout the trip and repeatedly said everything was going fine.

The completion of the mission was the crowning achievement of an 11-year, military-linked manned space program promoted as a symbol of national prestige both at home and abroad.

Helicopters and trucks rushed to retrieve Yang. Earlier reports said the astronaut would be armed with knives and possibly a gun to protect himself against wild animals and other threats in the Inner Mongolian grasslands where the ship was to touch down.

Xinhua said the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center sent a message at about 5:35 p.m. EDT (2135 GMT) to Shenzhou 5 instructing it to return as planned. Shenzhou 5, shown on a three-dimensional screen in the mission control center, made a gentle turnaround upon receiving the order, Xinhua said.

While in orbit, Yang spoke to his family, telling them it looked "splendid" in space. He also had a conversation with the country's defense minister, unfurled the flags of China and the United Nations and took a nap.

Yang, an astronaut since 1998, was picked for the flight from three finalists. They have trained for years, and the field was narrowed from 14 in recent weeks. His trip came after four test flights, beginning in 1999, of unmanned Shenzhou capsules.

China has had a rocketry program since the 1950s. It launched a manned space program in the 1970s amid the political upheaval of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution but later abandoned it. The program was relaunched in 1992 under the code name Project 921.

The budget for the program is secret, but foreign experts say it totals at least US$1 billion -- a major commitment for China, where the average person makes US$700 a year.

 

Can you imagine Yao Ming and Yang Liwei making a few commercials together...$$$

 

I think an actual space race is a few decades off, the next manned Chinese launch is a year or two away and we have things like this on the drawing board:

Earth-to-space elevator proposed

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) - Researchers are proposing an elevator reaching 100,000 kilometres into the sky that would be able to launch payloads into space at a far lower cost than space shuttle.

The Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists are so convinced it can be a reality that they are working on their own time on technical details. Five to 10 scientists at any given time are analysing the economics, technical specifications of how the elevator would work and possible health risks to those using it.

Lab scientist Bryan Laubscher said researchers hope the U.S. Department of Energy can someday use the information to start investing in a space elevator.

"The first country that owns the space elevator will own space," Laubscher said. "I believe that, and I think Los Alamos should be involved in making that happen."

The elevator shaft would be made of a strong, thin, lightweight material called carbon nanotubes. The shaft, really a 32 million-storey-tall cable, would be carried into orbit on a conventional spacecraft, then gradually dropped down to Earth and attached to an ocean platform along the equator.

Solar-powered crawlers would move up and down the elevator, carrying payloads of satellites or probes to be placed in Earth's orbit or beyond. They also would attach additional cables to the main shaft that eventually would become new elevators.

"It would create huge, huge savings over how we launch stuff now," said Ron Morgan, a health scientist working on the project. "From the top of it, we could throw things off to Mars or to the inner solar system. Launching those things on conventional rockets costs a fortune."

A payload on the shuttle costs about $15,000 US per kilogram to launch into orbit, while a payload on the first space elevator likely would cost about $1,000 per kilogram, which could drop to $50 to $100 in time, Laubscher said.

Significant technical questions remain. No one has made a carbon nanotube cable longer than a few metres but Laubscher said technology is improving daily, and a longer cable could be possible in a few years.

Also, the Earth's magnetosphere, far above where the shuttle typically travels, could be a radiation hazard. Scientists say that wouldn't rule out equipment launches or space tourism in lower orbits.

Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, D.C., said the space elevator concept is ingenious but faces big obstacles including environmental and cost questions.

"My comment would be, 'Good luck,' " he said.

The researchers believe their time on the project is worth it.

"None of us can imagine how the space elevator will change the world," Morgan said. "I'd love to be here 15 years after the first one is built to see how the world changes. I think it will change everything."