-Caveat Lector- China Spacecraft Has Smooth Flight The Associated Press Saturday, Jan. 13, 2001; 11:46 a.m. EST BEIJING -- China's unmanned spacecraft has circled the earth 60 times during four days of smooth flying, the official Xinhua News Agency said Saturday in the first progress report since the vessel's launch. Experts at the Beijing Aerospace Directing and Controlling Center have monitored the craft since its Wednesday launch, commanding the vessel to perform "hundreds of sophisticated maneuvers," Xinhua said. It said the craft flew 13 oval orbits before being directed into a circular orbit on the 14th pass round earth. The flight was the second test of the Shenzhou capsule in 14 months and brought China a step closer to becoming the third nation, after the United States and Russia, to achieve manned space travel. China has provided little information about the flight or its secretive space program, code-named Project 921. The Xinhua report merely listed the type of experiments the Shenzhou II is conducting: in physics, voice transmission, astronomy and the environment of space. "Sources said that all the designated scientific experiments are being carried out in line with the original plans," Xinhua reported. It made no mention of any cargo, although newspaper reports on Wednesday's launch said the Shenzhou carried cell and tissue samples of 87 animals, plants and micro-organisms. Western analysts believe the Shenzhou is testing systems critical to manned flight - life-support, guidance and re-entry. A successful mission, they said, means China could send astronauts into space within two years. Chinese scientists, quoted by state media, have said three or four more unmanned test flights will be needed. On Friday, the Beijing control center fired the Shenzhou's engines to "maintain a good condition of the orbit and pave the way for its return to earth." It added that preparations are being made for the craft to land in coming days. It was unclear where the vessel will land. Its predecessor, the Shenzhou I, orbited earth for 21 hours before landing in the grasslands of China's Inner Mongolia in November 1999. © Copyright 2001 The Associated Press -- Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned. --Milton Friedman <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
