Shenzhou 2
| Mission dates | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mission: | Shenzhou 2 | ||
| COSPAR-ID : | 2001-001 | ||
| Spacecraft: | Shenzhou | ||
| Launcher: | Long march 2F | ||
| Crew: | no | ||
| Begin: | January 9, 2001, 01:00 UTC | ||
| Starting place: | Jiuquan | ||
| Landing: | January 16, 2001, 11:22 UTC | ||
| Landing place: | Inner Mongolia | ||
| Flight duration: | 7 d 10 h 22 min | ||
| Earth orbits: | 117 | ||
| ◄ Before / After ► | |||
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Shenzhou 2 ( Chinese 神舟二号 ) launched on 9 January 2001 at 01:00 UTC and was the second launch of a Chinese unmanned Shenzhou - spaceship . The re-entry module separated from the rest of the spacecraft after over seven days in orbit . The orbital module remained in orbit for an additional 220 days.
Orbit maneuvers
The spaceship was tested far more extensively with Shenzhou 2 than with its predecessor Shenzhou 1. After launching into an elliptical orbit at an altitude of 196.5 to 333.8 km, the orbit became circular after 20.5 hours or 13.5 orbits around the earth Corrected orbit with an altitude between 327.7 and 332.7 km. This was for security reasons. With a circular orbit, a real spaceman has significantly more opportunities than with an ellipse to trigger the automatic sequence for an early return to earth in an emergency. In addition to the regular landing site in Inner Mongolia, the engineers had programmed a whole range of land options in other countries around the world into the control systems of the spaceship. On January 12 (327.7 to 332.7 km) and January 15 (328.7 to 345.4 km) the orbit was changed again. In the manned missions, the change from the elliptical to the circular orbit took place on the fifth orbit around the world.
Test of life support systems
A very important aspect of the Shenzhou-2 mission was the testing of the spacecraft's life support systems . It had briefly been considered to use Yunnanese macaques for this, a type of monkey that is relatively easy to train. But since the metabolism of a macaque is only 1/6 of that of a human, 18 monkeys would have had to be accommodated in the return capsule in order to simulate the oxygen consumption of a crew of three and to test the devices that kept the oxygen content of the cabin air within the specified parameters - If there were only one or two monkeys, the automatic oxygen supply would not have triggered in the first place. In addition, since the construction of an accommodation and training complex for the monkeys would have cost around 30 million yuan and the death of an animal, for example if it had refused to eat under the impression of weightlessness, would have been a psychological burden for the human space travelers on future missions, one ignored the use of higher living beings. Instead, a device was installed in the return capsule that simulated the oxygen consumption and CO 2 production of three people for seven days - the mission duration for which the Shenzhou spaceships are designed .
Scientific experiments
In addition to the breathing simulator, 64 different scientific experiments were on board. 15 in the re-entry module, 12 in the orbital module and 37 on an external instrument carrier platform. These included experiments with crystals in microgravity , animal experiments with six mice and with aquatic and land microorganisms, space radiation and particle measuring devices and a gamma-ray flash measuring device . To test communication, recorded messages were sent by radio from the spaceship.
landing
The brake rocket signal was sent at 10:15 a.m. UTC on January 16, when the spacecraft was over the southern Atlantic off the coast of South Africa . After orbiting the earth 117 times after 7 days, it landed 10 hours and 22 minutes at 11:22 a.m. UTC in Inner Mongolia . Since no photos of the landing capsule were published, it was speculated that the landing was not a complete success, which was initially denied by the Chinese authorities. At the end of October 2003, after Yang Liwei's successful first flight, General Li Jinai (李继 耐, * 1942), since 2002 commander of the manned space program, confirmed in the journal “Spähposten” (瞭望, Pinyin Liàowàng ) published by the official Xinhua news agency that at Return and landing not all hoped for goals were achieved.
The orbital module remained in orbit until the re-entry missiles were detonated on August 24, 2001.
Individual evidence
- ↑ To classify: The suborbital dogs Xiaobao and Shanshan, who had spent a few minutes in weightlessness in 1966, had been selected from originally over 100 candidates in a lengthy training and evaluation process. 中国 航天 第一 村: 空间 科学 探测一步 从 安徽 这里 迈出. In: mzfxw.com. July 20, 2019, accessed October 2, 2019 (Chinese).
- ↑ 朱增泉: 中国 飞船 - 中国 载人 航天 工程 总设计师 王永志 访谈 录. In: people.com.cn. October 17, 2003, accessed October 2, 2019 (Chinese).
- ↑ Cheng He: Confusion and Mystery of Shenzhou-2 Mission Deepens. In: spacedaily.com. February 27, 2001, accessed October 2, 2019 .
- ^ Wei Long: Shenzhou Design Changes Reason For Launch Delay. In: spacedaily.com. March 13, 2002, accessed October 4, 2019 .
- ^ Wei Long: Shenzhou-2 Returns While Orbital Experiments Continue. In: spacedaily.com. January 19, 2001, accessed October 2, 2019 .
- ↑ 慕 泉: 李继 耐 回忆 我国 载人 航天 工程 的 艰辛 与 喜悦. In: cctv.com. October 26, 2003, Retrieved October 4, 2019 (Chinese).
- ↑ 瞭望 新闻 周刊. In: paper.news.cn. Retrieved October 4, 2019 (Chinese).
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