China provided the United States with the relevant datum before launching the Shenzhou-6 manned spacecraft in order to gain consultation service, said a Chinese official in charge of the flight mission on Wednesday.

"We have sent various parameters, including those about the orbit, to US over the past few days," said Hu Shixiang, deputy commander in chief of China's manned space flight program.

The move was made on the initiative of the US State Department which volunteered on Oct. 6 to offer warning service to China on the launch mission to prevent possible collision between Shenzhou-6 and US orbiting spacecraft and some 13,000 space scraps, according to Hu.

The official said China also gave notice to a dozen of countries where the monitoring stations are located, asking for immediate assistance in case of any emergency during the landing of the spacecraft with two astronauts onboard.

"All of the countries are very cooperative," said Hu.

Source: Xinhua first multi-manned and multi-day spaceflight of Shenzhou-6, astronauts' normal life and activities, such as eating, drinking, sleeping and excreting, must be assured, said Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut and now deputy commander-in-chief of the astronaut system of Shenzhou-6 Manned Space Program.

Yang said the two astronauts aboard the Shenzhou-6 were accessible for such foods at the orbital capsule as rice, vegetable and meat, which can be heated up, for such beverage as coffee, orange juice and green tea, and also for some spices.

Sleeping bag and the excrement collecting facility are also provided in the orbital capsule. "This living system need to be tested by this spaceflight," Yang said.

Compared with Shenzhou-5, China's first manned spacecraft orbiting the Earth two years ago, more than 110 technical modifications have been made for the 9.2-meter-long Shenzhou-6.

"This is the first time for Shenzhou spacecraft to apply the whole system, and the successful flight this time would indicate that China's technology in Shenzhou spacecraft is close to be mature," said Zhang Bainan, chief designer of the spacecraft system.

China's second manned space mission with the Shenzhou-6 spacecraft will be the country's first human-controlled space scientific experiment program, said Hu Wenrui, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA).

Human participation will help realize a significant step forward in space scientific experiments, Hu said, noting that the exploration of celestial bodies can be undertaken efficiently by machines based on automation approaches, albeit there still exist missions that machines unable to accomplish at present.

"Without human participation, however, space scientific experiments will only involve a few tested items and have limited effect," Hu said.

Gu Yidong, chief designer of the spacecraft application system of China's manned space program, said the two astronauts aboard the Shenzhou-6 are requested to initially verify the feasibility of experiment control and to cultivate capability of operation in space.

In the nation's future manned space missions, scientists will likely be sent for space experiment, Gu added.

Source: Xinhua