China starts countdown for second manned foray into space

JIUQUAN, China, Monday (AFP) China is expected to launch its second manned space mission this week from a remote desert region, swelling national pride and leaving many foreign observers in awe at what the country has achieved.

"The Chinese should be very proud of what they are accomplishing," said David Baker, a London-based space policy analyst for Jane's Defence Weekly.

"It's the kind of activity that only a developed and well-organized industrial nation can pull off."

At some point in the coming days, Shenzhou VI will lift off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on the edge of the Gobi desert, although a final launch time remains shrouded in secrecy and is probably subject to weather conditions.

Jiang Jingshan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said last week blast-off would be 11 am (0300 GMT) Thursday, while the Nanjing Aerospace University said the launch was set for 9:30 am (0130 GMT) Wednesday.China's state-run press reported that Zhai Zhigang and Nie Haisheng would likely pilot the five-day mission, which will return to earth in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia.

It will be almost exactly two years after the successful October 15, 2003 launch of astronaut Yang Liwei into space, making China only the third nation after the United States and the former Soviet Union to accomplish such a feat.

While the Shenzhou technology is based on 1950s and 1960s Soviet science, observers said it would be wrong to shrug off China's space program. It is evidence not just of technical prowess but also of managerial and organizational skill, they argued.

"If it was easy, China wouldn't be the third country with a manned program," said Joan Johnson-Freese, an expert on Chinas space program at the US Naval War College.

"The technology isn't exactly breakthrough technology, but being able to put it all together and make it work, is sending a message that in fact China has integration skills, it has follow-through capability to build this kind of technology."