Special Report: Third Manned Space Mission
Backgrounder: Chinese footprints in
outer space
Facts and Figures: Shenzhou-7
spacecraft
BEIJING, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- China's third manned spacecraft Shenzhou-7 completed orbit maneuver successfully at 4:04 a.m.(Beijing Time) on Friday, entering into the round orbit 343 kilometers above the earth.
The maneuver was executed under the precise control of the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC). Physical condition of the three astronauts including their body temperature and blood pressure all stayed normal.
The orbital adjustment, which helped the spaceship move into a round orbit from an oval one, is vital to ensure the vessel's normal operation and landing in the targeted area. Before that, the spaceship was flying in an oval orbit with a perigee altitude of 200 kilometers and an apogee altitude of 350 kilometers.
The three astronauts onboard talked to the ground control center in Beijing at 0:16 a.m. and briefed on their working and physical condition.
The maneuver started at 4:03 a.m. as the orange flame was gushed out of the tail of the vessel, which began to pick up speedat the time.
The astronauts were fastened in their seats with calm and kept close watch on the data displayed on the instrument board.
Sixty-four seconds later, the spaceship was back to smooth flight. Zhai Zhigang reported to the ground: "The instrument board data showed the maneuver was completed."
BACC later proved the result after calculation, and said the maneuver had realized its target.
The astronauts are scheduled to assemble and test their extravehicular (EVA) suits in the orbital module later Friday, to prepare for China's unprecedented spacewalk that was planned on Saturday.
 |
|
The video grab taken on Sept. 25, 2008
at the Beijing Space Command and Control Center in Beijing, China, shows
Chinese taikonauts in the return module of the Shenzhou-7 spacecraft.
(Xinhua Photo)
Photo Gallery>>> |
BEIJING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Three Chinese
taikonauts who blasted off on the Shenzhou-7 spacecraft told the ground control
center that they felt "physically sound" in the first few minutes of the flight.
The space voyager took off at 9:10 p.m. on Thursday
from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center with leaders including President Hu
Jintao present seeing off the taikonauts -- Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing
Haipeng. Full story
JIUQUAN, Gansu, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- A wide variety of
seasoning sauces, but a less diverse colors of furniture and decoration inside
the module. The three Chinese taikonauts who began their mission Thursday
evening will have flavored but, perhaps, not that colorful days in outer space.
Above all, however, the men will surely boast the
convenience of a toilet that was a luxury their predecessors might dreamed of in
the previous two missions. Full story
 |
|
The Long-March II-F carrier rocket
carrying the Shenzhou-7 spaceship blasts off from the launch pad at the
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province, on
21:10 p.m., Sept. 25, 2008. (Xinhua/Li Gang)
Photo
Gallery>>> |
JIUQUAN, Gansu, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- China launched
its third manned spacecraft on Thursday with three astronauts on board to
attempt the country's first-ever space walk.
The spaceship Shenzhou-7 blasted off on a Long March
II-F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern
Gansu Province at 9:10 p.m. after a breathtaking countdown to another milestone
on China's space journey. Full story
