Posted on Friday, October 10 2003 @ 22:42 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck| Sources at two major state-run television stations and a tour operator told Reuters early this week the launch had been provisionally set for the morning of October 15, barring bad weather.
And Hong Kong's Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po newspaper said the craft would fly for 21 hours, or 90 minutes per orbit, before floating back down to Earth the next morning. It did not say how many astronauts would be taking part in the maiden voyage, but that a team had been trained for the mission. A successful manned flight, on the heels of Beijing winning a bid to host the 2008 Olympics, could fuel nationalism and offer a boost to the Communist Party as China seeks a place on the world stage alongside the traditional great powers. Any failure would be a loss of face and would raise questions about the necessity of a space program in a country where 140 million people live on less than $1 a day. |
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Source : Reuters
