Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Shenzhou 4
| Mission Statistics | |
| Mission: | Shenzhou 4 |
| Call sign: | Shenzhou 4 |
| Launch: | December 29, 2002 16:40 UTC Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center |
| Landing: | January 5, 2003 11:16 UTC Inner Mongolia 40.51deg N, 111.38 deg E |
| Duration: | 6 days 18 hours 36 minutes |
| Orbits: | 107 |
| Contents |
Crew
- none
Backup
- none
Mission Parameters
- Mass: 7,800 kg
- Perigee: 196 km
- Apogee: 329 km
- Inclination: 42.4°
- Period: 89.8 minutes
- NSSDC ID: 2002-061A
Mission Highlights
Shenzhou 4 (meaning Divine Vessel) is a Chinese (PRC) unmanned test satellite that was launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China by a Long March 2F rocket at 16:40 UT on 29 December 2002. It carried a retrievable crew module with all furnishings, test equipment, and dummy astronauts to assess its viability for a manned launch. The spacecraft carried fifty-two science experiments. (Very similar to the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, the Shenzhous carry two other modules, a service module for storing fuel and equipment, and an orbiter to continue on after the release of the crew module.) The spacecraft's descent module was successfully recovered on 5 January 2003 at 11:16 UTC. The crew module made a parachuted soft-landing on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia after a seven day mission.
See also
| Previous Mission: Shenzhou 3 |
Space program of China | Next Mission: Shenzhou 5 |
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