Shuguang (spacecraft)
The Shuguang spacecraft (Chinese曙光 飞船means in Mandarin " Dawn " ), also known as "Project 714 " (Chinese七一 四 工程), should be the first manned spacecraft of the People's Republic of China during the late 1960s and early 1970s. It should be a the American Gemini spacecraft similar two-man capsule, which could start in 1973. Because of financial and political problems, the Shuguang program was canceled on May 13, 1972.
Early development
China's manned space program began in the early 1960s and was founded by Qian Xuesen from " Space Flight Medical Research Centre". According to many proposals for a manned spacecraft serious planning began from 1966. First test flights with animals should be initialized before a manned flight would be carried out. But shortly after the plans had been made , some scientists involved in the project were persecuted during the cultural Revolution and the development process came to a halt.
Planning
To the moon between the U.S. and the USSR As the race reached the peak, were China's Leading in a conflict with the revisionist line of Nikita Khrushchev and fought for supremacy of the Communist world, so they decided the moon and outer space not only to the two to leave superpowers.
Therefore, Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai decided on 14 July 1967 to launch China's own manned space program. China's first manned spacecraft was named Shuguang -1 (Chinese曙光 一号) in January 1968. China 's Space Medical Institute (Chinese航天 医学 工程 研究所) was established on 1 April 1968 where it was researched in the field of space medicine. The Central Military Commission issued the Order, under the PLAAF pilots, astronauts (in the west also called taikonauts ) selected for the mission. The criteria of selection were: 1.59 m to 1.74 m tall, 24 to 38 years old, 55 to 70 kg and 300 flight hours completed. At the end of 1969 after two months of selection and after review of 1918 pilots, 215 candidates were selected. Then began a second phase of the selection and flight skills, the psychological and the physical capacity, as well as the general medical condition were checked, after which only 88 candidates were left. Finally, the " political reliability " of the candidates has been considered. Had been completed as of the review process on 15 March 1971 there were only 19 candidates left. These included Xiangxiao Lu, Wang Zhiyue, Dong Fang Xiaohai and Guojun. During a conference in April 1971 it was decided that the ship should resemble the design of the American Gemini spacecraft and that the program is now to be called "Project 714 ". The astronauts began training in November 1971 and the first mission was planned for 1973. The Shuguang spacecraft was developed for this purpose and it was scheduled to start this on a CZ -2A ( Long March 2A).
New Space Station
In order to promote the Chinese "Project 714 ", it was decided to build a new spaceport in Xichang in Sichuan Province, which should have a greater distance to the Soviet field for security reasons. The Shuguang -1 should be started at the Launch Pad Number One. Following the deletion of the program it was never completed and it was built a viewing platform for official visitors there.
Termination of the program
Because of the secrecy of the project and the low priority for the Chinese government, the budget was very low. As Mao himself was asked to increase the funding of the project, he decided that territorial issues are more important. Because of the lack of money, the astronauts were sent back to their units. On 13 May 1972, the last participant was sent back to his unit, and the project was officially canceled. During the late 1970s and 1980s propaganda was announced that China's manned space program is resumed. There were, in this respect, however, few efforts undertaken.
Design of the Shuguang spacecraft
The Shuguang spacecraft resembles the American Gemini spacecraft very much, but is smaller and lighter, so it can start with a CZ -2A, which has a maximum weight capacity of 3200 kg. The two crew members had been sitting in a pressurized chamber fitted with ejection seats and instruments. The aft of the spacecraft would have to be adjusted for the direction engines, tanks and for some parts of the hardware. For the re-entry the stern would have been separated from the crew area and then landed in the water, because no system had been developed for landings on the mainland.
Legacies
Nevertheless, after eight years was the development of a fleet of Yuanwang class, a vessel for recovery of re- entering the atmosphere ships were built. The " Space Flight Medical Research Centre " was established in Beijing. There reusable space ships of the FSW class, EVA space suits, space food, ground stations, as well as the training and selection of astronauts and the like have been developed. This laid the foundation for the Shenzhou program that began 30 years later.