meanwhile in China...
(source;
Sino-defense blog)
http://sinodefence.com/2015/07/22/china-manned-space-history-1/
...China briefly attempted to launch an artificial Earth satellite into orbit in 1958, but the programme was cancelled in early 1959 due to the country’s economic hardship.
By the early 1960s, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had instigated a series of corrective measures to recover from the disastrous results of the ‘Great Leap Forward’ campaign of the late 1950s.
By the mid-1960s, the country’s economy was back on track and the space programme was once again back on the agenda.
On 2 August 1965, the Central Special Committee chaired by Premier Zhou Enlai formally approved the China Academy of Sciences (CAS)’s plan for developing the country’s space technology, including scientific experimental satellites, application satellites, and manned spacecraft.
In March 1966, the National Defence Science & Technology Commission (NDSTC), which oversaw China’s nuclear weapon and missile programme, hosted a closed session conference in the military-run Jingxi Hotel in Beijing. The purpose of the conference was to develop the concept for a manned space mission.
A working group was set up during the conference to include Cai Qiao, Vice Director of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences; Bei Shizhang, Director of the Institute of Biophysics of the China Academy of Sciences; and Shen Qizhen, Director of the China Academy of Medical Sciences.
After some 20 days of intensive debates, the working group came up with a high-level plan for the manned space mission, including the launch of biological satellites or sounding rockets carrying animals to test the effects of microgravity and space radiations on humans.
The discussions then went to wider audience. During a conference in May 1966 for drafting China’s ten-year satellite development plan in 1966—75, Jia Siguang (Academy of Military Medicine) made a presentation to all conference delegates on the purposes of manned spacecraft. Xu Liancang (Institute of Psychology of the China Academy of Sciences) presented a plan for developing the manned spacecraft.
The ten-year development plan envisaged a three-step roadmap: to use scientific experimental satellites to validate the various technologies; to further develop application satellites for Earth-observation, communications, missile early warning, navigation, and nuclear test detection roles; and to develop a manned capsule based on the recoverable satellite technology.
Biology Sounding Rocket Launches
In 1963, the CAS Institute of Biophysics proposed the use of the two-stage T-7A sounding rocket for biological and high-altitude medical research. The Shanghai Institute of Machinery and Electronics (SIME) modified the rocket’s payload compartment into a pressurised capsule, equipped with onboard camera, oxygen supply, and electrocardiogram telemetry systems.
On 19 July 1964, a T-7A-I biology rocket carried a group of white laboratory rates for a suborbital flight that reached 70 km altitude. The rats were successfully returned to Earth alive. This was followed by two more successful suborbital flights also carrying white laboratory rats in June 1965.
In October 1965, the Institute of Biophysics proposed further suborbital flights carrying more advanced animals. The SIME made further modifications to the T-7A rocket, including an enlarged payload nosecone 600 millimetres in diameter and improved tracking and telemetry systems. The rocket also carried additional propellants, increasing its take-off weight to 1,325 kilograms.
On 14 July 1966, a T-7A-II biology sounding rocket was launched from the Guangde Launch Site. Its passenger was China’s first space dog
Xiao Bao (“Little Leopard”), who was selected from a pool of 30 experimental dogs through a strict training and screening process. The dog was trained to accept confinement, spacesuit, noise, vibration and physiological sensors. The rocket reached an altitude of 100 km, before returning the passenger capsule safely to Earth. Two weeks later a second launch was conducted on 28 July, sending space dog
Shan Shan into space and then safely recovering.
In August 1966, the Institute of Biophysics and the SIME began the preparation for new missions to send monkeys into space onboard the T-7A biology rocket. However, the project was soon brought to a halt by the political turmoils of the Cultural Revolution that began in that summer. With the scientists and engineers working on the biology sounding rocket denounced and even persecuted, the space monkey mission had to be abandoned.
Under the instruction of the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry (Ministry of Missile Industry), in March 1967 the Shanghai-based 8th Academy formed a team headed by Wang Xiji to develop a manned spacecraft. In September of the same year, Wang and his team drew up the concept of a one-man capsule based on the Fanhui Shi Weixing (FSW, “Recoverable Satellite”).
However, the design was vetoed by the Vice Minister of the Seventh Ministry Qian Xuesen on the basis that the one-man crew arrangement glorified ‘individual heroism’ — something unfavourable under the political climate at the time. Wang’s team went back to the drawing board and produced four revised designs with one, two, three, and five crew members. Qian also named the manned capsule Shuguang (“Dawn”).
In 1968, the Shuguang development programme was reassigned to the 501 System Design Department of the newly formed China Academy of Space Technology (CAST, a.k.a. the 5th Academy). As the design department voted most of its resources to the development of the Dongfanghong 1 satellite, little progress was made on the development of the manned capsule over the next two years.
In November 1970, the NDSTC and the Seventh Ministry hosted a conference to discuss the development plan in the next stage of China’s space programme. The 5th Academy presented to the conference the design proposal for Shuguang 1, a two-man capsule capable of flying in low Earth orbit for up to eight days. A full-scale mockup of the capsule was also displayed during the conference.
Shuguang 1 was similar in size and design to the U.S. Gemini vehicle. The spacecraft consisted of two parts — a habitable Crew Module at front and a Service Module at back. The Crew Module, also serving as the re-entry capsule, contained the pressurised crew compartment with two ejection seats and a control panel. In front of them was an equipment compartment housing the various flight instruments, radio equipment, the parachute and four retrofire rockets. The crew could control the vehicle using a control sticker handle. The aft Service Module would accommodate the orientation rocket engine, propellant tanks, batteries and communication antennas.
Like the Recoverable Satellite, Shuguang 1 would first jettison its Service Module prior to the re-entry, and then make an unpowered descent through the atmosphere, before lowering its velocity to an acceptable level using its parachute. The two crew members would then use their ejection seats to bail out the capsule before landing.
On 27 November 1970, the NDSTC submitted its plan for the development of the Shuguang 1 manned spacecraft to the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee. The spacecraft was to be launched atop the Dong Feng-6 (DF-6) intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) under development at the time.
The first unmanned test flight of the spacecraft was scheduled for 1973, followed by the manned mission in 1974.
Under the suggestion of Qian Xuesen, the Institute of Cosmos Medicine & Engineering Research (or 507 Institute in its code name) was formed on 1 April 1968 out of the Institute of Biophysics of the CAS, Unit 236 of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), and the Military Work Physiology Research Institute of the Academy of Military Medicine.
Primary responsibilities of the institute included conducting researches in space medicine and leading the selection and training of Chinese astronauts for future manned space missions.
In October 1970, the PLA formed a selection committee responsible for recruiting astronaut candidates. The committee first worked with the PLA Air Force to identify potential candidates from active-duty fighter jet pilots. The pilots were screened for their physical conditions such as age, height, weight, medical history, service records and performance, as well as their political loyalty and family background.
Out of the 1,918 pilots who were regarded as qualified, 88 were picked for further detailed medical examinations in Beijing beginning in January 1971.
The selection process lasted for several months and was conducted in extreme secrecy. The pilots were housed in the Air Force General Hospital in complete isolation, with no contact with the outside or their families allowed. Even the pilots themselves were not told what the selection process was for, and many assumed that they were being selected for flying an advanced fighter jet. The candidates were eliminated one by one through ten formal screening steps.
Eventually 19 candidates were chosen from the 88 to take part in the training programme to become astronauts.
In April 1971, the plan to develop and launch China’s manned spacecraft was officially approved by the Chinese political leadership, including Chairman Mao Zedong and his deputy the Defence Minister Lin Biao.
The 5th Academy was instructed to begin with the Shuguang 1 development. The PLA Air Force was ordered to collaborate with space institutions to establish an astronaut training group. The programme was given a code name “Project 714” to commemorate the date.
In April 1971, over 400 space professionals and officials from 80 research institutions across the country gathered in Beijing to evaluate and finalise the details for the manned spacecraft. The conference kicked off a series of researches including spacecraft materials and heat protection in the following months.
On 13 May, the PLA Air Force activated a 500-man unit headed by Xue Lun (Commander of the 24th Air Division) to provide support for astronaut training. The unit headquarters, known as Project 714 Office, was situated inside Building No.49 of the Air Force College.
The 19 astronaut candidates were asked to report to the unit no later than November to commence a two-year training programme. In the next few months, Xue and his team rushed to build training facilities and develop training plans in preparation for the upcoming training programme.
In August 1970, construction work began in the mountains near Xichang, Sichuang Province in central China for a new rocket launch facility to support the manned space mission. The site is situated on 28°N latitude, much closer to the Equator than the existing launch site at Jiuquan (42°N) in order to gain the maximum payload advantage from the Earth’s rotation speed.
On 13 September 1971, China’s number two leader and Chairman Mao Zedong’s chosen heir, the Defence Minister Lin Biao fled the country and died in a plan crash in Mongolia en route to his defection to the Soviet Union, following an alleged unsuccessful coup to overthrow Mao. China once again descended into political chaos. In the aftermath of the incident, Lin’s closest supporters including the Air Force Commander were purged systematically for taking part in Lin’s plot.
The investigation also extended to lower levels of the military apparatus. Xue Lun and other members of Office 714 were detained for sustained interrogation that lasted for nearly a year.
The 19 astronaut candidates reported to the office in November 1971 as required but could not begin their astronaut training. Soon the astronaut group was disbanded, with the pilots returned to their original units.
Construction of the new launch site at Xichang had been progressing very slowly due to unclear and frequently changed objectives. By late 1971 the 12,000 engineering troops had stopped the building work while waiting for new instruction from the military headquarters in Beijing.
Faced with no budget and enormous technical difficulties, the Shuguang 1 development also slowed down and eventually ground to a halt in early 1972. The cancellation of the DF-6 ICBM development in 1972 was another major blow to the programme as Shuguang 1 lost its proposed launcher rocket.
Half of the design team were reassigned to the Shi Jian 2 satellite development. By late 1973 the development became unsustainable and the programme manager had no choice but to release his staffs. Soon there was only one person left in the entire design team.
On 23 October 1974, the Seventh Ministry and the NDSTC jointly reported to the CMC on the status of the manned space programme. Heads of the two departments admitted that the Shuguang 1 development had made little progress since its launch in 1970, and called for ‘necessary adjustment’ to the programme by postponing the first launch to the late 1970s.
Unlike its grand launch in 1970, there was no definitive ending to Project 714. Since the project was personally approved by Chairman Mao, nobody would dare to ask it to be cancelled. The programme simply died out as a result of the country’s weak economic strength, poor industrial capabilities, and unfavourable political climate. Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai was later quoted saying that China shouldn’t join the Soviet Union and the United States in their space race, and that the country should focus on things on Earth first.
