China undeterred by Columbia tragedy
Posted: Fri, Feb 14, 2003, 6:32 AM ET (1132 GMT)
A leading Chinese space official said Thursday that the nation continues to plan its first manned spaceflight later this year despite the loss of the space shuttle Columbia. Zhang Qingwei, president of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, told the China Daily newspaper that China will continue plans for a manned Shenzhou flight later this year "without being distracted" by the Columbia tragedy. However, Zhang and Qi Faren, chief designer of the Shenzhou spacecraft, said that the Columbia accident made them aware that "we always need to be cautious and meticulous in scientific undertakings." The Christian Science Monitor reported Thursday that the accident brought "a new sobriety" to thoughts among the Chinese elite about manned spaceflight and its implications to the global reputation of the nation.
A leading Chinese space official said Thursday that the nation continues to plan its first manned spaceflight later this year despite the loss of the space shuttle Columbia. Zhang Qingwei, president of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, told the China Daily newspaper that China will continue plans for a manned Shenzhou flight later this year "without being distracted" by the Columbia tragedy. However, Zhang and Qi Faren, chief designer of the Shenzhou spacecraft, said that the Columbia accident made them aware that "we always need to be cautious and meticulous in scientific undertakings." The Christian Science Monitor reported Thursday that the accident brought "a new sobriety" to thoughts among the Chinese elite about manned spaceflight and its implications to the global reputation of the nation.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Sunday, February 1
INNOSPACE Initiates Joint Investigation with Brazil’s CENIPA Regarding HANBIT-Nano Mission
INNOspace — 12:03 pm ET (1703 GMT) NASA’s Mission Support Future Architecture Program
NASA — 11:39 am ET (1639 GMT) The Milky Way is embedded in a ‘large-scale sheet’ and this explains the motions of nearby galaxies
Netherlands Research School for Astronomy — 11:31 am ET (1631 GMT) Streaks on Mercury show: Mercury is not a "dead planet"
Univ. of Bern — 11:31 am ET (1631 GMT) NanoXplore and STMicroelectronics deliver European FPGA for space missions
STMicroelectronics — 11:27 am ET (1627 GMT) |
