 |
|
The Shenzhou-7 manned spaceship, the
Long-March II-F rocket and the escape tower are vertically transferred to
the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's
Gansu Province Sept. 20, 2008. The transfer finished at 3:15 p.m.on
Saturday, marking the final stage of the launching preparation.(Xinhua
Photo)
Photo
Gallery>>> |
BEIJING, Sept. 21 -- The Shenzhou VII spaceship has
been transported to the Jiuquan launching pad in northwest China's Gansu
Province. This means China's third manned space flight is now in its final stage
of preparation. Engineers say if the fine weather continues, Shenzhou VII can
expect to blast off late next week.
The Shenzhou VII rocket was transported in an upright
position bundled together with the manned spacecraft, the escape tower and the
Long March propelling rocket.
This combined structure moved along a 1500-meter-long
rail, at a precise speed of 28 meters per minute.
Accompanying engineers also kept a close eye on
wind-speed, just in case wind-velocity exceeded 10 meters per second. They were
careful to make 2 stops, just to check the state of the equipment.
Zhang Jianqi, Director of China's manned space
program said "Transportation causes vibrations. And if the frequency of the
vehicle's vibration matches that of the rocket's, this can damage parts of the
spacecraft. We must make sure that doesn't happen. "
The whole process took just over an hour. Now firmly
positioned in its launching pad, Shenzhou VII is all set to take off with three
astronauts on board next week. One of them is scheduled to take a walk in outer
space.
(Source: CCTV.com)
China's manned spacecraft Shenzhou-7
in final preparation for launch
JIUQUAN, Gansu, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Shenzhou-7
manned spaceship, the Long-March II-F rocket and the escape tower were
vertically transferred to the launch pad at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday, marking the
final stage of the preparation.
The 58.3-meter-high body was transferred to the
launch pad on a 1,500-meter-long heavy rail line. The transfer lasted more than
one hour and two check-ups were conducted. Full story
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
