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In lugnet.build, John-Paul Enaje wrote:
> Received my first Lego astronaut, and I converted him into a Taikonaut. This one
> is inspired by taikonaut Yang Liwei, the former PLAAF pilot turned spaceman.
>
> He is China's first ever Taikonaut. His flight back in Oct. 15 of 2003 added a
> new word to space terminology and made China only the 3rd nation to be capable
> of putting people in space.
>
> Although they are "40 years too late", considering how NASA is somewhat grounded
> due to the disaster, the Russian space agency not having enough money, and the
> remaining space agencies are limited to unmanned flight not to mention focusing
> their efforts on the ISS (International Space Station) project... China has a
> chance to catch up and I dare say, even bypass all the other space agencies
> except the US's.
>
> The space capsule, Shenzhou 5 (shenzhou= "divine vessel") was capable of holding
> 3 people, but CSA decided to send only Yang Liwei. It was launched by their
> rather old but very reliable Long March rockets. The model that Yang was
> luanched in was Long March 2F.
>
> Their next manned flight will be with the Shenzhou 6, roughly the same as the
> Shenzhou 5 but with added equipment as this flight is meant as a small space
> lab. This time 3 taikonauts will be sent. Estimated launch date is anytime from
> 2004 to 2005.
>
> China's next goal after the Shenzhou 6 is a bit more ambitious. They plan on
> building a small space station, perhaps as way of getting back at the ISS team
> for refusing China entry into the project back in 2000. It is estimated that
> this will be done around 2008.
>
> Another 10 years from that date (2018 or a bit earlier).... this is something
> that many Lego space fans keep building... a MOONBASE!
>
> Anyway here are a couple of pictures of the real life Shenzhou 5 on the Long
> March rocket, Yang Liwei minifure, and finally a picture of Yang Liwei himself
> inside his space vessel.
Woops... forgot to post the link in the original thread.
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=62224
BTW, the CSA is also developing their own space shuttle. No doubt using borrowed
designs from the Russian Buran space shuttle, as well as learning from the
successes and mistakes of America's space shuttles.
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