High-performance computers ensured automatic control of the
operation of China's Shenzhou spacecraft, said a leading officer
with the space program.
Xi Zheng, head of the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control
Center, said ten large-capacity computers at the center help the
officers control the spaceship. "Sound planning and sophisticated
computer software made the command and control system fully
automatic."
Xi and his team, mostly in their 30s, designed the software.
Even though the spacecraft was ensured of an automatic flight
and landing, he added, the officers kept monitoring the Shenzhou V
manned craft throughout its flight that came to a successful
conclusion early Thursday morning.
When necessary, they would delete some of the pre-set command
data in the computer system and put in new data. Moreover, Shenzhou
V?was fitted with a computerized control system to back up the
ground control and manual control by the astronaut.
"The astronaut would have implemented a contingency plan had any
problem occurred with the computerized system," said the senior
engineer.
He recalled that the ground control administered five manual
adjustments to Shenzhou IV?during its flight in the outer
space in December 2002. Shenzhou IV, though unmanned, was of the
same model as Shenzhou V, which has just made history by completing
China's first manned spaceflight.
(Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2003)
