Thread of the Silkworm   auth. Iris Chang (BasicBooks, 1995) re Tsien Hsue-shen, chinese U.S. space age pioneer. Rejected by U.S. after his aid, became father of Chinese missile pgm. Qian Xuesen (Tsien Hsue-shen). Grad. Jiao Tong Univ., Shanghai; 1935 went to MIT for further study. Then involved in early U.S. rocket pgm with Theodore von Karman & others.	S	i n o #3 in  4 th   H E A V E N S
	new China international astro new moon extraterrestrial Univ. Aero & Astronautics

In 1949 Tsien Hsue- shen, leading expert in high-speed aerodynamics working in America, applied knowledge learned from German rocket developments to design a practical intercontinental rocket transport. He proposed a 5,000 km single stage winged rocket clearly derived from V-2 aerodynamics. The 22,000 kg rocket would carry 10 passengers from NY to LA in 45 minutes. It would take off vertically, with the rocket burning out after 60 seconds at 14,740 kph at 160 km altitude. After a coast to 500 km, it would re-enter the atmosphere and enter a long glide at 43 km altitude. Landing speed was to be 240 kph. Tsien's fundamental theoretical work on this concept lead to him being called the 'Father of the Dyna-soar' (1950's/1960's delta winged spaceplane that was the ancestor of the space shuttle).

cf The China Cloud Wm L. Ryan & Sam Summerlin The Wind & Beyond Theo. von Karman	Qian Xuesen Pu Shuying & Wei Gengfa in Chinese Qian Xuesen Library Xi'an Jiaotong Univ.
'Shenzhou III' spaceship returns to earth 4.1.02   Reuters Beijing   The capsule from China's third unmanned spaceship, Shenzhou III, landed successfully in Inner Mongolia Monday after orbiting globe 108 times, the state-run Xinhua news agency said. Launch & return of the craft laid a foundation for China's plans to eventually send men into space, the news agency said, quoting Chinese space officials. A set of dummy astronauts and life simulation & monitoring devices were aboard the craft, which officials said was "technically suitable for astronauts." Zemin hailed Shenzhou III's successful launch March 25 as a "new milestone" for China, whose last unmanned flight, Shenzhou II, put a monkey, a dog, a rabbit and snails into orbit Jan. 2001. Shenzhou II also orbited earth 108 times. China announced its 4 step Shenzhou manned spaceflight plan in 1999 with aim of establishing space station served by shuttle-style vehicles. China, which state media has said plans manned space flights by 2005, would join U.S. & former Soviet Union as the only countries to put a person into orbit. " 'Shenzhou' spaceship is going to be a means of conveyance between heaven and earth in the future, namely a shuttle-bus between the earth and the universe," said Qi Faren metaphorically, chief-designer of the Shenzhou III spaceship, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering when he was giving an appraisal of the spaceship. With hoary hair the senior astronautic expert expressed, the manned astronautic project and spaceship China is carrying out is not its ultimate purpose and the research and launching of the spaceship is in the service of space-station to be established in the future when he accepted the interview of the reporter in his office. 'Shenzhou' to become 'public coach' between heaven & earth   4.12.02   People's Daily Qi Faren … speaking of returned & collected "Shenzhou III" spaceship, … consists of 13 subsidiary systems: system for astronauts, effective carrying capacity system, electric-supply system, propelling system, guided-navigation & control system, meter & lighting system, structure & organization system, heat-control system, environment control & life guarantee system, monitoring & communication system and emergency life-saving system and landing & retrieval system as well as digital data management system. "During the flight, all systems worked in a fully manned condition." … "As a chief-designer of the spaceship … , it still needs still needs at least 2 to 3 flights to find out problems through experiments & appraisals. … USSR made 7 trial launches before manned flights, U.S. 21. … The returning module is designed to take 3 astronauts. The orbit module is used for daily life & work of … space-navigation & scientific experiments. Propelling module provides power & electricity and will be cast off when the ship returns into atmosphere … The "never-wet diaper" on sale in the market now was in its initial period meant for temporary ease of the astronauts in short flight, now of no use because they can use the toilet instead. … Qi Faren said, the "Shenzhou III" is equal to that of the Russia in the middle of 1980s and is more spacious than the "Soyuz TM" spaceship of the time. … "Shenzhou IV" is in an active preparation and is expected to be set off soon.	China develops first mars probe 4.23.02   Li Heng People's Daily "Mars Explorer", first Mars probe developed by China on its own, is now going through adjustment, debuting publicly at China Sci-Tech Week in May, per Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. "Mars Explorer" is made after "Mars Ranger" developed by US NASA, said vehicle engineering dept dean Dr Ding Shuiting, in charge of the project. Like "Ranger", "Mars Explorer" could realize complete virtual reality through remote sensing, remote surveying technology. People on the ground could "walk", "climb" together with the probe as if sitting on it, as well as direct it to conduct exploration. Its "head", like human eyes, collect information all around, sending data for immediate analysis. "Mars Explorer" looks like a lunar roving vehicle, having 6 wheels, a square-shaped body and a head weighting around 20kg. Its body is linked with its wheels by only one axle, which makes it suitable to walk on uneven ground, Dr Ding said. Each wheel drives independently by 2 engines installed within, so it is able to deal with complicated conditions on the ground. Between the body & wheels is a hidden mechanical arm, which serves to crush mineral stones into powder and send back analysis to the ground. With investment of only RMB 200,000 yuan, the probe is no more than a model with many mechanical details simplified, said Ding. But it is technologically qualified, as capable as US- made probe and independently developed by China. NASA plans to launch its detecting device "Ranger" to the Mars. Much bigger in size than previous probes, "Ranger" is able to cover a distance of 110 yard each day on the Mars (a time period equals to 24 hours 37 minutes on the earth). It will carry sophisticated devices for probing use. "Ranger" is to enter the atmospheric layer of the Mars 1.20.04. Returned module of 'Shenzhou III' opened, space 'passengers' made a great show 4.5.02   People's Daily … Beijing Space Technology Research, Manufacture & Experimentation Ctr of China Space Technology Research Institution … China Space Technology Research Institution president Xu Fuxiang … experimental equipt of microminiatured chip from Bio-chip Engineering Research Ctr of Tsinghua Univ., Space Egg-hatching Incubator of China Science & Technology Univ., Kanglemycin vaccine by Beijing Pharmaceutical Research Institution of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and a dozen of seeds for seedless tubal grapevine and evergreen ivies … . Chinese traditional painting known as the "Soaring Chinese Dragon" created by over 30 calligraphers & painters signed by dozen experts in astronautic technology … China Space Technology Research Institution vp Yuan Jiajun, commander-in-chief of "Shenzhou III" spaceship presided over the ceremony … office of China manned spaceflight engineering project and China Aerospace Science & Technology Corp. Chinese have unique advantages on manned spaceflight   4.24.02   Huang Ying People's Daily … Su Shuangning, Commander-in-chief and Chief Designer of China's manned space navigation project. … besides Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Ctr & Space Ctr Houston, only China has adequate techniques & facilities for cosmonaut selection & training. To build China's Cosmonaut Training Ctr into "China's Gagarin" or "China's Houston" is one of its goals. … Chinese emperor 'was killed by meteorite' 4.10.02   Oliver August   Times Beijing   The Yellow Emperor, regarded as the founder of the Middle Kingdom, was buried under the impact of a meteorite 5,000 years ago, Chinese scientists said yesterday. According to the official China Daily newspaper, scientists believe that a 3ft long meteorite fragment found near the Emperor Huangdi's mausoleum in the city of Xian, in north central China, verifies an ancient legend according to which Huangdi "died when the land was shattered" and was "broken up by 9 dragons". The discovery of the meteorite has "great significance in answering questions about the beginning of China's 5,000- year-old civilisation," the newspaper said. The experts from the Shaanxi Provincial Coal Geological Prospecting group, who estimated the age of the meteorite, did not detail what method of research led them to this conclusion. More cynical observers regard the discovery as part of a broad propaganda campaign by the Communist Party to use Chinese history to legitimise its territorial ambitions. The longevity of the Chinese empire, from Huangdi to Chairman Mao, is meant to justify the latter's claim to ruling Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang, which only occasionally were part of China over the centuries. During a ceremony at Huangdi's mausoleum, a govt official said: "On this day, we wish to let our Taiwan compatriots know, especially the Taiwan authorities, that we have the same ancestor." In academic circles, scepticism abounds over Huangdi. He is credited with the word "emperor" and the imperial colour yellow, but Chinese legend also claims that he unified 3 major tribes in the Yellow River &' Yangtze River areas, invented the cart & the boat, and that his dialogues with the physician Qi Bo were the basis of China's first medical book, the Yellow Emperor's Canon of Medicine. His wife, Lei Zu, apparently taught the Chinese how to weave silk from silkworms and his minister Cang Jie devised the first Chinese characters. The Emperor is said to have reigned from 2697 to 2597 BC. About 50,000 Chinese visited the mausoleum, first erected in the Han Dynasty (206BC to 221AD) to pay their respects last Friday for the annual Tomb Sweeping Day. Since 1992, China has spent £16 million on renovating the mausoleum outside Xian.
Reason for China's development of manned spacecraft   1.17.03   People's Daily The back cabin of the "Shenzhou IV" returned to its birthplace in the airspace city on the northern outskirts of Beijing in the afternoon 1.7.03 "Accurate launching, normal operation and safe retrieval" featured the launching of 4 spacecrafts before formal launch of manned spacecraft of China's manned space project, summed up by Huang Chunping, commander-in-chief of "Shenjian"-Long March-II F, and deputy chief commander of the launching site. Huang Chunping was interviewed by a reporter in China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology(CALT) where he works. This carrier rocket expert said: I would go to attend a 1.9.03 meeting to make arrangements for the work related to the manned rocket." Huang told the reporter that Russia & U.S. conducted a dozen or so launchings before they formally sent manned spaceships into the orbit, whereas China would conduct manned flight test after only 4 times, so he felt enormous pressure; this was very insufficient from the angle of science, he said. Because safety amp; reliability of the spaceship are calculated by probability, so a definite sub-sample was needed. With regard to countermeasures, Huang said: The technological condition of the " 'Shenjian' & 'Shenzhou-IV' are entirely the same as the manned spacecraft; when directly approached, there wouldn't be much problem, but we won't let off any minor problem in data analysis. He continued, "considering that no more test will be conducted, so our principle is taking the four tests as the standard, we are resolved not to change the technological state where it is possible, we will make the fifth launch a success in a more "strict, meticulous, prudent and practical" style of work. Another important preparatory work relates to astronauts. Huang said, "There are currently 14 astronauts under training, 2 of them are instructors, of course, they will also go up to the sky." The two instructors had been trained abroad and they taught others after their return, "Because we cannot afford to pay very high fees if all of them are sent abroad for training." Huang said to the reporter that seats were installed in the "Shenzhou" spaceship for 3 astronauts, and the launching was design by taking 3 persons into account. As to how many persons will be sent in the first flight, it will be determined in light of the concrete circumstance. In future, there will be scientists who engage in scientific research in the outer space.

A report of Hong Kong-based Sing Tao Jih Pao, says: the "Shenzhou V" manned spaceship will be launched in Oct. 2003 this year. Hung Chunping indicated the time still couldn't be decided at present, in case a problem with data analysis arises, the entire work process will likely be changed.
A colleague of Huang told the reporter that the time for the launch of "Shenzhou-IV" was postponed for one day because of Huang's insistence, the reason for this was that the temperature on the day orig. set for launching was below 28 degree C. Huang Chunping said, "Although our instruments were designed & tested by the standard for normal work at temperature below 35 degree C., there is also stipulation that no launch is allowed below minus 20 degrees C. Since the most important things for manned flight are safety & reliability, then why should we risk the danger to launch on that day? That would put off the completion of the man-carrying project at least 2 years."

Huang stated that China's manned flight project was approved by the Central Special Committee on 9.21.92. At that time, it was determined that China's manned space flight project was to be accomplished in "3 steps": First, developing manned spaceship, then building a space laboratory under man's care, and finally setting up a space station under man's long-term care.
This will make China become, in the early 21st century, a third country capable of independently carrying out manned space activity in the world following U.S. & Russia.

There were very few domestic reporters allowed to conduct on-the-spot coverage of the launch of "Shenzhou-IV", let alone foreign reporters. Nevertheless, these foreign reporters tried every possible means to inquire about related news. What they were most concerned about was the significance of China's manned spacecraft in safety strategy.
Huang said, "The aerospace industry of all countries are started from the research & manufacture of missiles; this is true of the whole world. The State has this need of safety. It was only afterwards that space technology rendered more service to the national economy & people's livelihood. Examples incl. communications satellite, resources satellite, disaster-relief satellite, and oceanic satellite.
We develop space industry for the purpose of peaceful use of the space."

"National security" contains the concepts of territorial waters & territorial airspace, territorial air usually refers to space area within a certain height above the land & waters. Going further to above the atmospheric layer will be the outer space called the fourth human territory beyond the land, ocean and territorial air.
However, internationally, there is no clearly definition about which piece of the outer space comes within the scope of which country. Huang Chunping said, "Just imagine, there are outer space facilities of another country at the place very, very high above your head, and so others clearly see what you are doing, and what you are feeling. That's why we also need to develop space technology."

There is no country in the world which develops space technology purely for civilian use. U.S. once set out to build a formidable Star War operational platform. During the Gulf War, America launched numerous satellites and put Iraq under close surveillance. Each detachment of the US military was installed with receivers in its satellite positioning system.
They were clearly about where the man was and what instruction was issued. This is totally different from previous conditions wherein battles were fought by relying on short-wave radio for contacts. Chinese military in strategy research say because all technologies are the same; specialists are aware what does carrier rocket, which can accurately send spaceship into the pre-set orbit, mean to missile and what multi-modeled micro-wave remote sensing technology mean to reconnaissance & surveillance.

In the current & future State security strategy, if one wants not to be controlled by others, one must have considerable space scientific & technological strength, otherwise one will be bullied by others. Manned space flight is exactly a scale for measuring space strength.
An American official report says that manned aerospace is epitome of space technology; it has extremely important political influence on the world pattern and a country's intl standing. In 1961 when Soviet astronaut Yury A. Gagarin safely returned from the "Orient-I" spaceship on which he boarded, and thus became the world's first astronaut who completed the outer space orbital flight, U.S. was greatly frightened, feeling that the Americans had fallen from the position of the world's first power overnight, so they immediately concentrated their resources to make their "Moon-land Project." It was only till 1969 when the "Apollo"-11 successfully landed the moon that they regained their sense of superiority & self-confidence.

Precisely because space technology has important significance to the national economy & people's livelihood, China concentrates human & financial resources to accelerate manned aerospace development. Today, its manned space project incl 7 major systems: astronaut, application, spaceship, carrier rocket, launching site, monitoring and retrieval mechanisms. It has put to use over 100 work units, more than 3,000 factories and tens of thousands of scientific research, manufacturing and planning personnel. The entire project involves huge investments.
Huang explained the usage of this amount of investment, majority in ground construction, such as factories, bases and equipt. When this sum of money is formed into fixed assets, it can generally be used in many national economic fields. "The money which was really used in space was actually not much."

Huang told the reporter that astronauts are the valuable assets of the country, so there must not be the slightest accident. To realize the goal of manned space flight, "Shenjian"-Long March-II F Rocket has added automatic fault-detecting & escape systems. In the automatic fault-detecting system are established 310 kinds of failure-model analyses, it can immediately give automatic warning once danger occurs, ordering the astronaut flee to the safe area. When speaking of the escape system, Commander-in-Chief Huang walked to the "Shenjian" model that stands in the office; pointing at a four-fold lattice wing on one side, he said, "This is the most difficult part of the escape system, we once wanted to inquire about it from Russian experts, but they set the price at US$10 million, finally we solved the problem on our own." As regards overall level of China's space technology, Huang said that although the time for the space flight of our astronauts is 42 years later than that of Gagarin, this does not imply that China's space technology lags behind that of U.S. & Russia by 42 years. He made an analysis from the aspects of rocket, spaceship, satellite, etc. As the commander-in-chief of "Shenjian" rocket carrying the "Shenzhou" spaceship, Huang Chunping is self-confident that China's carrier rocket is of the world's first rate. In the aspect of spaceship, compared with the "Union" spaceship still in use in Russia, the "Shenzhou" spacecraft is bigger in size, inner equipt is more advanced, generally speaking, it has reached the level of the 1990s. China's satellite developmental level is relatively lagging. The service lives of US & Russian satellites reach a dozen or so years, whereas that of China's is only several years. This is mainly because there is a disparity in the rocket propellant of the satellite self-carrying control system. Huang said to the reporter that China has so far relied completely on itself for the development of its space undertaking, "as scientific & technological personnel, we hope very much to enter into cooperation with our foreign counterparts, but based on the considerations of basic economic strength, intellectual property rights, political factors as well as national security, China's aerospace industry can only develop self-reliantly." In the opinion of Huang, what currently handicaps China's space undertaking is the fact that the country's overall economic strength is not particularly hefty, its production technological level is not high enough, and it still cannot put in sufficient funds, but he believe that as long as the State increases investments and, after working hard for 15-20 years, China's space undertaking can fully be able to catch up with the level of the world's most advanced countries.

China puts communications satellite into orbit 10.28.06   AP Beijing   China rocketed a domestically produced communications satellite into orbit Sunday to provide wider and more advanced television services across the country, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. A Long March-3B rocket lifted off from the Xichang launching site in western Sichuan province and placed its payload, the 5.1-ton satellite, in orbit, Xinhua said. The satellite, known as Sinosat-2, was built by the China Academy of Space Technology for the Sino Satellite Communications Co., or Sinosat, a state-run provider of satellite communications. Sinosat-2 is designed to provide broader coverage of TV signals and allow for more digital and live broadcast TV services, Xinhua said. China's decades-old aerospace program has gathered momentum in recent years, letting the country place more advanced satellites into orbit for both commercial and military purposes. Sinosat-1, built by the French company Aerospatiale, was launched in 1998. Sinosat plans to launch a third satellite next year mainly to provide radio and TV services, Xinhua said. Boeing: U.S., China should cooperate on space 9.17.03   Reuters Beijing   U.S. should work on joint space projects with China, which is preparing to send its first person into space, the China chief of U.S. aerospace giant Boeing Co said Wednesday. "We really think it is a matter of NASA and what they want to do," Boeing China pres. David Wang told reporters. "Until NASA feels the U.S. should cooperate with China on space, and I think they should, the time has come, our hands are tied," Wang said. Chicago-based Boeing is one of NASA's biggest contractors, jointly operating the space shuttle program with Lockheed Martin Corp. Boeing has no space business in China, which is one of the company's top commercial aircraft customers. "But we are certainly very interested," Wang said. China is working on becoming the third nation to send people into space, and many analysts believe the mission could blast off around the country's 10.1.03 National Day. Science & Technology Minister Xu Guanhua said Tuesday that preparations for the flight were on track, although he gave no details. China, already established as an inexpensive launcher of commercial satellites, has also announced plans to send probes to the moon & Mars.

India

New Delhi   He looks like a rock star, writes poetry and is the father of India's missile program. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, a Muslim, is also set to become India's next president just months after the majority Hindu nation suffered its worst religious violence in a decade that left about 1,000 people, most of them Muslims, dead. Kalam, 71, can recite from the holy Koran & the Hindu holy scripture Bhagavadgita with equal ease. Known as "missile man", he can just as easily talk about liquid fuel propellants and his veena, a stringed musical instrument, in the same breath. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's nomination of Kalam, who led a team that conducted India's 1998 nuclear tests, has been seen as a masterly "politically correct" stroke in wake of the religious riots in India's western Gujarat state that erupted in February.

It also means the country will have its third Muslim president at a time when India & its Islamic neighbour, Pakistan, are locked in a dangerous military standoff with a million troops lined up along their border. With no sign of the troops pulling back and India demanding Pakistan rein in militants launching attacks in India, there are fears it will take little to trigger a war, and possibly an nuclear attack, between the neighbours.
At the same time, analysts say the world should not read any message into the appointment of a man who knows only too well the destruction that nuclear weapons can unleash. "The outside world would be quite foolish to read anything into it, it is a purely domestic matter," said political analyst Inder Malhotra. "The purpose of having Kalam is the fact that he is a highly respected Muslim and that takes the edge off Gujarat."

Vajpayee's choice threw opposition parties into disarray and upset their plans to push their own candidate for the largely ceremonial position of president. His "credentials are too politically correct, too unblemished for the opposition not to coerce itself into silence", columnist Sankarshan Thakur wrote in the Indian Express. On Thursday the main opposition party, Congress, accepted Kalam's candidacy, making him a shoe-in for the job of president of majority Hindu but officially secular India. Analysts say Vajpayee sprang a huge political surprise by proposing a Muslim for president. Vajpayee's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party was accused of turning a blind eye to the revenge killings of Muslims by Hindus, charges the party denies.

Kalam, whose elfin grey locks make him resemble an ageing rock star, is a bachelor who was born to illiterate parents on an island in the southern Bay of Bengal. His relatives described him as a shy boy who read every book he could lay his hands on and his father rented out boats to fund his schooling. After it was certain he was now few only a weeks away from becoming president, Kalam quoted from the Bhagavadgita to reflect his feelings. "Whatever happened has happened for the good. Whatever is happening is happening for the good and whatever will happen will happen for the good," he said on Thursday.
Kalam, who now heads a technology centre at a southern Indian university, will be India's eleventh president when he moves into the regal president's palace in New Delhi next month. As a rocket scientist with the Indian Space Research Organisation he is credited for the success of India's first satellite launch vehicle in 1980, the fifth country in the world to achieve such capability. Through the 1980s, he worked with the Defence Research & Development Organisation heading integrated missile development.

Much of his fame comes from developing surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles that include the nuclear- capable Agni & Prithvi missiles with a maximum range of 3,500 km (2,190 miles). Another key contribution has been mastering ballistic technology, in the face of severe Western technology sanctions, that allows missiles to exit & re-enter the atmosphere. He is also a staunch believer in Indian military self-sufficiency. "Do not indulge in short cuts by importing equipment, do things yourself," he said.
As president, Kalam may be required to manage hung parliaments as it is the duty of the president to decide which party to ask to form a govt in the event of a fractured election outcome, a regular feature since the 1990s. Political analyst Pran Chopra said Kalam's lack of political experience would not be a handicap. "Certainly political astuteness is sometimes called for in a president but it is political impartiality that is more called for," Chopra told Reuters. "And from what we have seen of his career he is as politically impartial as can be."

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