January 13, 2003
"Shenzhou V will be manned" by the world's first... taikonauts
Something to watch: China's next major space news will be the launch of Shenzhou V, which will be manned by 2 "taikonauts".
The Chinese space agency is touting this as the first launch manned with 2 astronauts as the debut manned flight of a primary spacefaring nation (the U.S. and Russia being the other 2). I'm not sure how much to be impressed by that assertion, considering the fact that the Shenzhou series is essentially an old Soyuz design; the accomplishment itself is essentially a "Gemini Lite" flight.
Still, I'll be watching their progress carefully. Maybe I can buy a flight on one of those things someday...
Posted by Russell Whitaker at January 13, 2003 02:07 PM | TrackBackComments
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