Chinese space capsule to get check-up

With its astronaut back home and healthy, the orbital capsule that made China’s first manned space mission a success began its own physical examination today – an exhaustive, part-by-part check-up to determine if everything worked according to plan.

The kettle-shaped Shenzhou 5 re-entry module, 9.2 metres (about 28 feet) in length and 7,790 kilogrammes (17,175 lbs), came through its ordeal visibly none the worse for wear, and technicians said parts could possibly even be reused on the next Shenzhou mission, scheduled around the end of 2005.

“The capsule came back without any damage. I think the instruments inside can be used for the next launch,” Qi Faren, Shenzhou 5’s chief designer, said on state television.

Shenzhou 5 returned to land early Thursday after 21 hours in space, depositing Lt. Col. Yang Liwei on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia and making China the planet’s third spacefaring nation, behind the former Soviet Union and the United States.

U.S. President George W. Bush, in an interview with ChannelNews Asia released today, called China’s successful space mission an “interesting development” that he doesn’t consider ominous.

“It’s a country that’s now beginning to emerge as a sophisticated country. And it’s got great potential,” Bush said. “I hope that they are able to make discoveries in space, like we did, that will … help mankind. No, I don’t view it as a threat.”

Yang, a second-generation People’s Liberation Army fighter pilot and sudden hero of his countrymen, was reported in excellent health after thorough medical tests. “All the results showed he was in good physical condition,” the Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily reported today.

The government said Yang’s official recovery period – during which he will be monitored closely – could be shortened from a week to as little as two days.

Yang was brushing off his celebrity status in the days after his mission, saying his colleagues should also be honoured – as should the other two finalists who didn’t make it into space.

“No matter which astronaut carries out the task, he stands for the whole group,” People’s Daily quoted him as saying.

Yang’s capsule, which travelled thousands of miles an hour as it carried him into orbit and back, returned to Beijing far more slowly yesterday – by railroad, wrapped in camouflage cloth.

Space officials greeted it, and state television showed technicians gingerly shepherding it onto a flatbed truck. From there it made its way through the streets, escorted by lion dancers as people lined the sidewalks, waving flags and holding balloons and smiling.

Shenzhou 5 was handed over to the Chinese Research Institute of Space Technology later yesterday, and a preliminary examination showed the engines operated ”normally” for touchdown and the landing capsule itself “remained intact”, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Yang, meanwhile, said in comments released yesterday that, contrary to popular belief, China’s most famous piece of engineering could not be seen from on high.

“I did not see the Great Wall from space,” Yang said, answering a question from a China Central Television viewer.

In a nod to the space programme’s roots, CCTV also showed 92-year-old Tsien Hsue-shen, the reclusive founder of China’s rocketry programme, exulting in Shenzhou 5’s success.

The Chinese-born Tsien, a co-founder of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was driven from the United States in 1955 during anti-communist fervour and returned to work for his homeland.

In the TV footage, shot yesterday, the aged Tsien – lying in a medical bed in a sun-drenched room – smiled as friends showed him splashy front pages with big headlines and colour pictures of the craft, the view from space and Yang.

Tsien, dubbed “king of rockets” by the Chinese government, retired in 1991, the year before the country’s latest manned space programme was launched. But his research formed the basis for the Long March CZ-2F rocket that carried Yang into orbit.

China says it will push forward with the manned programme, announcing the plans to send another Shenzhou capsule up within two years and eventually construct a permanent space station.

Today, Xinhua reported that “secret cargo” from Shenzhou 5 had been revealed and returned to its owners. It included: a 2008 Olympic flag (the Games will be held in Beijing), a Chinese currency note, and memorial stamps.

Also aboard were a Chinese flag and a U.N. flag, which Yang held up during his flight.