Dummy run

China launched a dummy astronaut into space last week aboard a Shenzhou spacecraft, according to the official Chinese news service Xinhua. Reports say the dummy is fitted with sensors to record the physical stresses a real astronaut would feel in space. The capsule is expected to remain in orbit for several months. Media reports in China say it aims to start a crewed space programme as early as 2003 and hopes to put an astronaut on the Moon.