Shenzhou 5

China’s first manned spaceflight. Forgot to post this yesterday.

Oct. 3 — China appears ready this month to make a stab at becoming the third nation capable of independent launch of humans into Earth orbit. Chinese space officials remain tight-lipped about exactly when the flight of a piloted Shenzhou 5 might occur, who’ll be onboard and scope of the overall mission. Meanwhile, rumors abound, seemingly pointing to liftoff of Shenzhou 5 atop a Long March 2F booster sometime in the next few days to two weeks.

Although MSNBC did not provide a launch date, CNN sources indicates that the launch will take place between 15 to 17 of October. According to CNN, the original estimated 10 of October was commented as too early by a Chinese official. He also added that the launch will happen within one week after the original estimate.