China will send in the Autumn of 2005 at least two astronauts into the space, who will live there for at least one week, said academician Yang Jiachi, at the 12th Academician Conference of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Seventh Academician Conference of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), in Beijing on June 2, 2004. Yang said a breakthrough will be that the astronauts will commute between reentry module and orbit module in space. Yang Liwei, China's first space hero, will probably not be included in the list, Yang added.

85-year-old Yang Jiachi is an academician with Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and one of the advocates for the national Plan 863.

According to Yang, presently, it is only a reserved estimation to send two to the space for a week-long tour. If conditions permit, three astronauts are likely to fly for longer. But as for how many to be sent and in what way, related experiments are under way. China has solved the technological problems for several people to tour the space. The nitty-gritty problem now is the security and liability of the equipment, which can not yet promise a 100-percent guarantee. "Since we can not easily check once the rocket blasts, so we must be very careful."

Yang added, scientists acted as the "psychological guides" in selecting astronauts. They introduced the function of the facilities to the astronauts and boosted their confidence.

It will still be the "Long March II" rocket to carry the Shenzhou VI spacecraft and astronauts to the space. Shenzhou VI will maintain the three-person-three-module design which is generally the same as Shenzhou V. Astronauts will do observation on the earth and a variety of space scientific experiments in the orbit module. Meanwhile, Shenzhou-6 will continue the carrier experiment in space science.

By People's Daily Online