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| Technicians make final examinations and tests of China's second manned spaceship
Shenzhou VI at Jiuquan satellite launch center in Gansu
Province. |
China will launch its second manned space flight
at 11:00 am (0300 GMT) on October 13.
"We expect (to launch the flight) on October 13 if weather permits,"
said Jiang Jingshan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering who
was involved in the first flight.
The launch date for Shenzhou VI could change according to weather
conditions, Jiang said on local radio.
It is reported that Shenzhou VI spaceship was successfully connected to
the Long March 2F rocket Tuesday afternoon at the Jiuquan satellite launch
center.
He said two astronauts have been selected to orbit Earth for five days,
expanding on the 21-hour flight of Shenzhou V which circled Earth 14 times
in 2003.
Jiang did not disclose the names of the astronauts who are expected to
conduct experiments in the flight module and an orbital vehicle that will
remain in space for months after the astronauts return to earth.
The Shanghai Morning Post reported last month that Zhai Zhigang and Nie
Haisheng were the likely candidates to be chosen to pilot the flight.
It also reported the Shenzhou VI would take off from the Jiuquan launch
center in northwest China's Gansu Province and is expected to land in the
vast grassland in Inner Mongolia.
The entire rocket, including the return capsule and an orbiting
vehicle, has reportedly been assembled and is standing at the Jiuquan
launch pad.
China's first man in space Yang Liwei, who became a national hero and
received rock star treatment after his Shenzhou V flight, was named as
sole astronaut of the inaugural manned flight only hours before the
launch.
Press reports say Yang has arrived at the Jiuquan center, but as he
said before, he would not be a candidate astronaut this time.
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.
(Agencies) | 
Updated: 2005-10-06 16:37
