CONCLUDING REMARKS

What is the ultimate aim of the Chinese space program? For many Chinese, the development of an indigenous space program has been a source of pride and, as already noted, inspiring “lofty thoughts”. They are conscious that they have developed their program almost entirely on their own, using indigenous human and industrial resources, and despite varying levels of American blockade. As far back as April 1970, Zhou Enlai had proclaimed “We did this through our own unaided efforts” and the program remained the most nationally self-sufficient ever since.

China became, with its first manned spaceflight and then space station, the world’s third most prominent spacefaring nation, following the original space superpowers of Russia and the United States. Many of our planet’s nationalities have now been into space, but as guests of the superpowers; only three countries have the ability to do so on their own. From 2011, there were two manned space stations circling the Earth: an international one, led by the United States, Russia, Europe, Canada, and Japan; and a Chinese one: Tiangong. All this had been achieved by a country where, a little over 50 years earlier, the bicycle, the tractor, and the truck represented the limits of its technology, though never of its imagination. China’s space achievements were all the more remarkable for having been developed in a country so isolated from the world community. Now, China’s cosmodromes, space centers, and satellite factories are humming with activity. Its scientific institutes are expanding, peopled by a young and enthusiastic workforce. The biggest Earthbound space construction project is now taking place at Wenchang, Hainan, with enormous launch pads in the making for entire new launcher fleets. Roadmap 2050 promises a space program on a truly heroic scale.

In Western writings of future space missions, or in what might be called near-term science fiction, China has rarely played any part. An honorable exception is Arthur C. Clarke. In his famous novel, 2010: Odyssey Two (1982, Granada), Arthur C. Clarke had a manned Chinese interplanetary spaceship called, appropriately, the Tsien Hsue Shen, racing to Jupiter and its life-giving moon Europa, ahead of the Americans and the Russians. The Chinese did indeed get there first, but what happened after that is another tale. The Chinese part of the adventure was, in the event, disappointingly dropped from the film version. What a story it would have made!

Fantasy? Maybe, but, when Zhou Enlai and Tsien Hsue Shen set up the Chinese space program on 8th October 1956, who could have imagined that Chinese yuhangyuan would circle the Earth in less than 50 years? And that they would fly to a station in orbit in less than 60 years? The Chinese space program has been forged in a hard factory of technological backwardness, pohtical upheaval, and interna­tional isolation. The imagination, dreams, patience, and dogged determination of Tsien Hsue Shen and his colleagues ensured that China could develop a space program worthy of the country’s ancient achievements in science and engineering. Would it be surprising if an interplanetary spaceship called the Tsien Hsue Shen one day traveled to that lunar base, Mars, Jupiter, or to the far ends of the solar system? Considering all that is now happening, it might be more surprising if one did not.

[1] Times given in this book are normally Universal Time (UT or UTC), associated with the 0° meridian (Greenwich Mean Time) unless, as here, local time is stated. China is one time zone, normally UT + 8 hr.

REFERENCES

[3] For detailed information and timelines on Shenzhou 8 and 9 and Tiangong, see Christy, R. China: Piloted Programs and Other Missions, available online at www. zarya. info.

[2] For a description of Tiangong, see Coue, P. China’s Heavenly Palace. Spaceflight, 54 (1) (January 2012); The Second Generation Shenzhou. Space­flight, 54 (2) (February 2012).

[3] Xu, W. Chinese Space Film Drama. Spaceflight, 53 (9) (September 2011).

[4] For the origins and evolution of Tiangong and subsequent planning, see Pirard, T. Appel chinois a la cooperation internationale. Wallonie Espace Infos, 54 (janvier-fevrier 2011); Lin, K.-P. Space Station Orbital Mission Design Using Dynamic Programming. Paper presented to 61st International Astronautical Congress (IAC henceforth), Prague, 2010.

[5] Li, Y. et al. Progress in Space Medicine in 2008-2010. China Journal of Space Science, 30 (5) (2010).

[6] Guo, H.; Wu, J. (eds). Science and Technology in China: Roadmap to 2050. China Academy of Sciences (2009).