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1999 Chinese uncrewed spaceflight
Shenzhou 1
(
simplified Chinese
:
神舟一?
;
traditional Chinese
:
神舟一號
;
pinyin
:
Shenzh?u Y?hao
) launched on 19 November 1999, was the first uncrewed launch of the
Shenzhou spacecraft
. The spacecraft used was not equipped with a life support system or an emergency escape system. After orbiting the Earth 14 times, the command for retrofire was sent by the
Yuan Wang 3
tracking ship off the coast of
Namibia
at 18:49 UTC. After a successful reentry it landed about 415 kilometres (258 mi) east of its launch pad and 110 kilometres (68 mi) north-west of
Wuhai
,
Inner Mongolia
.
The first Shenzhou spacecraft was different from those later used. Instead of featuring unfolding
solar panels
,
Shenzhou 1
was equipped with fixed
solar cells
. During this first flight there were also no orbit changes. According to
Qi Faren
, the chief designer of the spacecraft, only 8 of the 13 sub-systems on board the spacecraft were operational. Shenzhou 1 was designed primarily to test the
Long March 2F
rocket. The only systems and capabilities tested on the spacecraft were the separation of the modules,
attitude control
,
lifting body
reentry
, the
heat shield
, and ground recovery.
The spacecraft is thought to have carried 100 kilograms (220 lb) of seeds to investigate the effects on them of the space environment. It is also thought that the front of the
Orbital module
was equipped with a dummy
ELINT
package, with
Shenzhou 2
onwards equipped with fully functional models.
It was announced in June 1999 that the flight would take place in October of that year. At about the same time images were released on a Chinese military internet forum of the
Long March 2F
launcher and the
Vehicle Assembly Building
that would be used. After a reported
[
who?
]
propellant explosion at the
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
(though the explosion was denied by Chinese officials) the launch was pushed back.
Mission parameters
[
edit
]
- NSSDC ID:
1999-061A
- Mass:
7600 kg
- Perigee:
195 km
- Apogee:
315 km
- Inclination:
42.6°
- Period:
89.6 minutes
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
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]
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Launches are separated by dots ( ? ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ).
Crewed flights
are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
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