When CCTV, China’s Central Television network, captured Yang Liwei (杨利伟) emerging from his space capsule, the country’s first astronaut (or taikonaut, if you like) looked tired but happy, and certainly healthy.But he did not return to Earth safely. As Andrew Jacobs reports in yesterday’s New York Times, a design flaw had exposed the astronaut to excessive G-force pressure during re-entry, splitting his lip and drenching his face in blood. Startled but undaunted by Mr. Yang’s appearance, the workers quickly mopped up the blood, strapped him back in his seat and shut the door. Then, with the cameras rolling, the cabin door swung open again, revealing an unblemished moment of triumph for all the world to see.What is left unsaid in this tale of government censorship – reported in a lecture to journalism students by an official from China’s Xinhua news agency – is why exactly this happened. Was it mainly to save face for the Chinese space program, or an attempt to protect the dignity of the country’s first astronaut?That question of course is in vain: the motives of the state information apparatus remain as obscure as the information it seeks to hide. But if information control is one of the purposes of Xinhua, the central government’s news agency and clearinghouse, and a major weapon in China’s power apparatus, information gathering is the other edge of the sword. The lessons learned in Yang’s pioneering flight (confirmed in his autobiography) were not hidden from top officials, but put to good use in future designs. From notes on the lecture, posted at China Digital Times: When the spacecraft lands it must generate lift so as to avoid accelerating uncontrollably towards the earth. Because of this, astronauts must bear loads many times greater than the force of gravity. Yang Liwei stated that he experienced a force of four Gs. A South Korean astronaut was injured when she experienced a force exceeding ten Gs. [Yang Liwei] was also injured because he experienced such a heavy force. When the spaceship launched, a design flaw caused Yang Liwei to be exposed to serious infrasonic waves. He said this caused his body to “resonate.” Infrasonic waves can severely damage one’s organs and can even cause death. They have even been researched by developed countries as a new model of weaponry. The infrasonic waves continued for 26 seconds. Yang Liwei stated that he felt as though he was “really going to become a sacrifice.” Upon returning to earth, Yang Liwei reported this design flaw to his superiors. These problems were resolved in the next generation of Shenzhou spacecraft. Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng’s ability to “enjoy” a bulls-eye, perpendicular landing that went perfectly according to plan had much to owe to Yang Liwei’s efforts. Yang Liwei’s title of “space hero” is definitely well-deserved.In addition, Xinhua News Agency while reporting on the Shenzhou 5, not only used Inmarsat satellites for their connection system, they also used the Iridium satellite network. Although Iridium was a commercial failure, filing for bankruptcy in 2000, it benefited from the support of the US military. The Iridium system was nonetheless put to service for an important purpose.Of course, the lecture notes have since disappeared from the Blogspot site where they were first posted, apparently by a student at the Tianjin Foreign Studies University. And of course, the notes, “Understanding Journalistic Protocols for Covering Breaking News,” have since popped up on dozens of sites in China.Read the original lecture notes at China Digital Times, read more about China’s plans for its own space station, and follow more news about NASA at Motherboard
