Asians in Space thread

[Martino]

A young Japanese engineer, Soichi Noguchi, has realised a lifetime ambition by earning himself a place among the crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery:

NASA website (http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/preparingtravel/soichi_noguchi_profile.html)

[Martino]

35 women selected for training for 2010 Mission

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4723541.stm

China has picked its first group of women to be trained as astronauts, according the state news agency Xinhua.
The 35 women, aged between 17 and 20, will first train as pilots at the Chinese military's Aviation University, Xinhua quoted an official as saying.

Some will then be picked for space missions, and China's first female is due to be launched into space by 2010.

China achieved its first manned space flight in October 2003. It plans to launch another mission later this year.

The short listed women were picked from more than 200,000 hopefuls, according to Xinhua.

They will work as flight commanders or on-board engineers, Hu Shixiang, deputy chief commander of China's Manned Space Programme, told the China Daily newspaper.

Earlier reports have said the spacecraft would actually be piloted by a male colleague.

The US and Russia are the only other countries to have launched manned spacecraft - and both have sent women into space.

Valentina Tereshkova, from the USSR, became the first female in space in 1963, and Sally Ride was the first American, in 1983.

China's second manned space mission - called Shenzhou VI - is due to launch in early October. Two people are set to be launched into space for a total of five days.

[Martino]

Video cam footage of Soichi Noguchi during his six hour spacewalk:

Astro-Cam (http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolavconsole/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_4730000/newsid_4731100/bb_rm_4731113.stm)

[Martino]

China has sent two more astronauts into space: Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4333158.stm

Images of the two men can be found here:

http://195.117.109.25/astros/astro1.htm

[robotic]

Malaysians to help pick astronaut (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4244214.stm)

Malaysia's science minister plans to make the country's space programme a truly interactive experience.

Members of the public will be able to choose the country's first astronaut from a shortlist and vote by text message, said Jamaluddin Jarjis.

Malaysia is due to take part in a Russian-led mission in 2007.

Having seen the enthusiasm with which people vote in TV talent competitions, the government is to apply the principle to the space programme.

Once its 11,000 would-be astronauts have been whittled down to a handful, their details and updates on their progress will be posted on the internet.

Then, the public will be able to make their choice by telephone text message and Malaysia's space bosses will factor the votes into their final decision.

If the contest proves popular and the government charges for the votes, it may even be able to cover the cost of its space programme.

The first Malaysian is due to reach for the stars on a Russian-led mission in 2007.

The national space agency has already announced plans for a research programme to send the country's favourite foods into orbit and the selection process to find the Malaysian who will taste them in zero gravity is already well advanced.

So far, only 200 short listed candidates have managed to run 3.5km (2.2 miles) in under 20 minutes and pass a medical.

[Martino]

The two Chinese astronauts have returned to Earth safetly:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4346962.stm

China's Shenzhou VI spacecraft has safely returned to Earth, after five days in orbit.

The craft, carrying two astronauts, landed at 0432 on Monday (2032 GMT on Sunday) in the remote grasslands of Inner Mongolia.

It is the second manned spaceflight for China - only the third country to successfully put a man into space.

China first sent up a manned mission in 2003, following the United States and Russia into space.

The capsule is reported to have landed by parachute only 1km (0.6 miles) from its target.

The two astronauts enjoyed noodles, tea and chocolate before being taken by helicopter to a nearby military air base. "I can feel that lots of people are thinking about us," Nie Haisheng told a TV reporter.

"We're very grateful for all the love and concern from our motherland and its people."

The astronauts, who have already undergone a health check, said they were feeling well.

Astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng began their journey on Wednesday.

Xinhua said on Sunday that their mission had "accomplished the planned experiments and accumulated valuable technical data" for China's manned space programme.

"We feel good, our work is going smoothly and our life is happy," Mr Fei was quoted as saying as the craft prepared for re-entry.

"We're grateful for the deep love and concern by all Chinese people, the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan compatriots," said the second astronaut.

Before landing, Shenzhou VI deviated from its planned trajectory because of Earth's gravitational pull.

The adjustment, which was carried out by firing the craft's thrusters, altered the spacecraft's altitude by 800m (2,625ft), the People's Daily newspaper said.

Space experts say such adjustments are routine.

The current mission comes almost exactly two years after China's first manned spaceflight.

Beijing has attached great importance to its space programme, viewing it as a source of national pride and international prestige.

China hopes to set up a space station within five years and eventually it wants to put an astronaut on the Moon.

[SunWuKong]

anybody think China can get a person on the moon by 2010?

[Martino]

Not by 2010, no. I'm interested to see what the Chinese space station will actually do. Reading one of the Chinese websites, they make it sound like Spacedock from Star Trek, to assemble or prepare spacecraft for a moonshot in orbit rather fly direct from the Earth to the Moon, Apollo style.

I'm mindful of Arthur C Clarke's book 2010, wherein the Chinese built a spacecraft under the pretense that it was a spacestation, so as not to alert the US and Russians that there was a third party in the books' space race to Jupiter (the plot of the book involved a second rendevouz with that giant monolith thing). The entire crew died in the attempt, as I recall. Not that there are any giant black slabs floating around up there ...

[SunWuKong]

Not by 2010, no. I'm interested to see what the Chinese space station will actually do.

oh is the 2010 target date the one for a space station? i thought they wanted to target the moon for 2010.

[doe-sun]

I bet you that China is interested in building that space dock thing, not to build ships, but to build factories that build more junk for walmart to sell.





*I'm only half-kidding

[yoMAMA]

moon is so yesterday.

plus, china already have more than enough moon cakes.

;)

[thaite]

Man, china better be feeding their people before getting around to putting them on the moon.

[Arex]

^ Kind like how the U.S. ought to be making sure its own citizens are well-fed, receive decent educations and have access to health care before trying to bring democracy to a bunch of reluctant Iraqis or colonizing Mars.

[thaite]

Can't say i don't agree with most of that.

[Martino]

Malaysia considers Islam in space

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4941816.stm

A two-day conference on Islam and life in space is under way in Malaysia, in a bid to answer questions faced by would-be Muslim astronauts.

Malaysia is due to send an astronaut into space with the Russians next year.

The country's first spaceman is almost certain to be a Muslim, which raises a number of practical issues.

For instance, Muslims wash before they pray but not only is water a precious commodity in space, but it is also impractical in weightlessness.

Likewise, the faithful face Mecca. However, that will mean pin-pointing a moving location while in zero gravity.

And Muslim prayer times are linked to those of the sunrise and sunset, but in orbit the sun appears to rise and set more than a dozen times a day.

Malaysia's science ministry has called together a group of experts to thrash out these and other questions.

It is being billed as the first-ever serious discussion of the issues.

It is in keeping with the Malaysian government's mission to promote what it calls Islam Hadhari, or civilisational Islam, which encourages Muslims to embrace education, science and technology.

It will doubtless be hoping that a conference of Muslim scientists and scholars debating such cutting edge issues will not go unnoticed in the rest of the Islamic world.

[AliBabaIncorporated]

For instance, Muslims wash before they pray but not only is water a precious commodity in space, but it is also impractical in weightlessness.
Uh, if I recall correctly, travellers are exempt from doing an ablution with water when they pray.

[Martino]

Japanese businessman Daisuke Enomoto's hopes of being the next space tourist have been dashed (for the moment) due to illness. I was looking forward to seeing his personalised Gundam spacesuit ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5278190.stm

A young Iranian-born American woman who rallied her wealthy family to underwrite a $10m (£5.3m) competition for the first private spaceflight will soon get to experience for herself the thrill of being a space tourist.

On Tuesday, Anousheh Ansari was confirmed as the replacement for Japanese businessman Daisuke Enomoto as a fare-paying passenger onboard the next Russian rocket mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Lift-off for the Soyuz capsule that will carry Mrs Ansari and two members of the next ISS crew is scheduled for 14 September from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

In her quest to fly in space, Mrs Ansari, co-founder of Texas-based Telecom Technologies, helped seed the development of a private spaceflight industry by donating $10m for the X-Prize competition, which was awarded in 2004 for the first pair of suborbital manned flights.

The winning vehicle, called SpaceShipOne, was built by aircraft designer Burt Rutan and funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.

A commercial version of the ship is under development by Rutan's Mojave, California-based firm in partnership with Sir Richard Branson's newly created Virgin Galactic spaceflight enterprise.

Daisuke Enomoto's feet are back firmly on the ground... for now
The company has sold about 200 tickets for flights, which are scheduled to begin in 2008 from the Mojave Desert. Mrs Ansari holds a reservation.

She also spearheaded a new family venture called Prodea to develop a line of air-launched suborbital vehicles in partnership with Virginia-based Space Adventures, as well as spaceports in the United Arab Emirates and Singapore to launch them.

More recently, she jumped at the chance to train as a reserve for Mr Enomoto in the hope of clinching the grand prize of spaceflight: a 10-day trip to the space station.

"Anyway you can fly me, I'll go," she said in an interview last month in Houston.

In the end, her wait may be far shorter than expected. Mr Enomoto, 35, was stripped of flight privileges earlier this week for undisclosed medical reasons.

It was not immediately known if he would remain eligible to fly on a future mission.

If he is, Mr Enomoto may be just as happy to wait. Russia recently added a $15m (£7.9m) option to its basic $20m (£10.6m) fare - a 90-minute spacewalk outside the ISS.

As for Mrs Ansari, she will have to fly without the projects she wanted to do in space and she may end up having to eat the meals ordered by Mr Enomoto.

Hopefully, though, she will be able to bring along some of her own clothes.

The Japanese businessman - a young-at-heart science-fiction fan - had sent ahead his spacesuit: an outfit modelled after cartoon pilot hero Char Aznable from the Gundam animation series.

[robotic]

Uh, if I recall correctly, travellers are exempt from doing an ablution with water when they pray.

=) yeah, but it depends i think.
if water is scarce/unavailable, traveller or not, you can use other alternatives like sand or gravel.

[Q_R_Dude]

This sounds like a pretty fun thing to do, albeit quite a risk for the astronauts and astro-tourists

Personally, I'm waiting for the safe space-plane and space-hotel combo lol.