超级军网谁翻译一下
来源：百度文库 编辑：超级军网 时间：2024/05/01 03:55:46
很有意思的，建议英文不错的朋友们都来看看
Shen Zhou 3 - mission report 4
By Phillip S Clark
China's third Shen Zhou test flight ended at 08.51 h GMT on 1 April, with the descent module landing in "the central part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region" in north China, according to the Xinhua news agency. Unlike the return of Shen Zhou 2 in January 2001, for which no photographic record of the landing has been published, pictures of the descent module on the ground were released within hours of Shen Zhou 3's return to Earth.
The spacecraft completed two small manoeuvres using its low-thrust engine in the days leading up to the landing: both were small manoeuvres and it is difficult to pinpoint them purely by calculations because the pre- and post-manoeuvre orbits were so similar.
The Chinese have announced that the first of these small manoeuvres took place on 29 March at 1015 h GMT, which would place the spacecraft over 23.6º S, 3.6º W, almost overhead as seen from the Yuan Wang 3 tracking ship off the western coast of Angola. The manoeuvre is said to have lasted for ~8 seconds and US Space Command tracking data indicate that the pre- and post-manoeuvre orbits were 91.20 minutes period, 331-336 km altitude and 91.22 minutes, 331-338 km respectively.
When this manoeuvre took place there were some Chinese reports suggesting that the spacecraft would come down after five days in orbit although, earlier in the mission, Chinese scientists with experiments on board the craft had indicated that a flight of seven days was planned.
Whatever the truth was, Shen Zhou 3 remained in orbit through 30 March and, on the following morning at about 0900 h GMT a further small manoeuvre took place, raising the orbit from 91.20 minutes, 330-337 km to 91.23 minutes, 330-340 km. Based on this manoeuvre, a final equator crossing was predicted for 1 April at 08.15 h GMT over 33.8º E, with the landing time estimated to be 08.51 h GMT - a figure which turned out to be correct to the minute.
The final orbit to be catalogued for the complete Shen Zhou 3 spacecraft was 91.21 minutes, 329-338 km (1 April at about 01.30 h GMT). Shortly before retrofire took place, the orbital module was separated from the main Shen Zhou 3 spacecraft (possibly about an hour before the landing) and that was catalogued in a 91.22 minutes, 330-339 km orbit (1 Apr at about 10.30 h GMT). Shortly afterwards, the low-thrust motors on the orbital module raised its orbit to 91.64 minutes, 354-357 km, possibly in anticipation of a larger manoeuvre in the next few days which will match the Shen Zhou 2 orbital module's ~400 km circular orbit.
Shen Zhou 4 is planned for 2002 and it is possible Shen Zhou 5 will fly this year as well. It is possible to speculate that the orbital module from the Shen Zhou 3 mission could be used as a rendezvous target for Shen Zhou 4. However, such an exercise would require this second mission to follow the first within six months. Some estimates based on the behaviour of the Shen Zhou 2 orbital module can be done. After separation from the main spacecraft, the module manoeuvred to a high 389-403 km orbit on 17 January 2001; two orbit-maintenance manoeuvres were completed on 20 February and 15 March, the latter leaving the module in a 394- 405 km orbit; no further manoeuvres took place. By about 26 June, the orbital altitude of the module had been reduced caused by air-drag to the 31-circuit repeating orbit used on both the Shen Zhou 2 and 3 missions.
The Chinese have predicted a lifetime of about six months for the Shen Zhou 3 orbital module, the same prediction they made for the Shen Zhou 2 module (it actually remained in orbit for seven months). This would mean that, assuming a similar orbital behaviour, the Shen Zhou 3 orbital module will have decayed to the 31-circuit rendezvous orbit by about the end of August. Therefore, if Shen Zhou 4 is to perform a rendezvous (but not a docking) with the Shen Zhou 3 orbital module, then a launch can be anticipated during the August-September period - bearing in mind that accurately predicting a decaying orbit this far in advance is impossible.
If the Shen Zhou 4 mission is as successful as the Shen Zhou 3 mission appears to have been, then the Chinese might be tempted to put a two-man crew on Shen Zhou 5 either late in 2002 or in the first half of 2003. Failing this, the first "yuhangyuans" (Chinese equivalent of the US 'astronauts' and the Russians 'cosmonauts') will ride on board Shen Zhou 6 during mid-to-late 2003.
The success of the Shen Zhou 3 mission has spurred the Chinese to release more information concerning both the launch vehicle and the spacecraft.
The "live" launch escape system was flown on the Shen Zhou 3 mission for the first time. This allows an emergency escape to be conducted by the yuhangyuan crew from about 15 minutes before launch through to about 16 seconds after launch when the tower and the lower shroud which surrounds the spacecraft at launch are separated. The fairing has a maximum diameter of 3.8m and, with the tower on top, the total length is 15.1m: the complete assembly has a mass of 11.26 tonnes. It is designed with a reliability of 0.995.
The CZ-2F launch vehicle is a man-rated version of the CZ-2E which has a two-stage core with four strap-on boosters to supplement the first stage. The total length of the vehicle (including the shroud and tower) is 58.34m and, for the Shen Zhou 3 mission, a launch mass of 479.7 tonnes is quoted by The People's Daily.
Shen Zhou itself has a launch mass of ~7.8 tonnes and can operate in orbit in 'solo' mode for about 20 days. It is not clear whether this is 20 'man-days' (about seven days with a three-person crew) or 60 'man days', allowing a three-person crew to remain in orbit for 20 days.
The forward orbital module allows work and living space for the yuhangyuans as well as providing a payload/equipment storage area. At both ends are connecting hatches, one to the descent module and the other to allow entry into a docked spacecraft. This cylindrical module has a diameter of 2.25m and is 2.8m long, with an estimated mass of about two tonnes. Mounted outside the orbital module is a pair of solar panel vanes, which unfold to give a total area of 12m2, as well as solar sensors for orientation in orbit, communications antennae and a docking unit.
The descent module is where the yuhangyuans will sit at launch and landing, with Chinese pictures showing three seats side-by-side - there had previously been speculation in the West that Shen Zhou might be capable of carrying four people at once. At the top of the descent module is the connecting hatch, leading to the orbital module. The beehive-shaped descent module is 2.25m base diameter and 2.095m high, with the outer shell being completely covered with an ablative heat-shield.
Both the orbital and descent modules carry medical instrumentation (presumed to be biomedical monitors for the crew at landing and landing in the descent module), as well as radiation and environmental monitoring equipment.
Below the descent module is the cylindrical instrument module which has a diameter of ~2.5m - flaring to 2.8m where it attaches to the adapter on top of the second stage of the CZ-2F launch vehicle - and a length of 2.94m. Both a main engine - for the primary in-orbit manoeuvres, as well as retrofire - and a secondary low-thrust engine - for small in-orbit manoeuvres - are carried in the instrument module. Outside the instrument module is a pair of solar panel vanes, which unfold to give an area of 24m2.
The People's Daily on 1 April noted that "Although Chinese space officials acknowledge that Shen Zhou is modelled after the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, they insist that Shen Zhou is truly a native space vehicle". This confirms that, although Shen Zhou follows the basic design of the Soyuz, the Russian design was heavily modified for the Chinese programme, and that it is of purely Chinese manufacture.很有意思的，建议英文不错的朋友们都来看看
Shen Zhou 3 - mission report 4
By Phillip S Clark
China's third Shen Zhou test flight ended at 08.51 h GMT on 1 April, with the descent module landing in "the central part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region" in north China, according to the Xinhua news agency. Unlike the return of Shen Zhou 2 in January 2001, for which no photographic record of the landing has been published, pictures of the descent module on the ground were released within hours of Shen Zhou 3's return to Earth.
The spacecraft completed two small manoeuvres using its low-thrust engine in the days leading up to the landing: both were small manoeuvres and it is difficult to pinpoint them purely by calculations because the pre- and post-manoeuvre orbits were so similar.
The Chinese have announced that the first of these small manoeuvres took place on 29 March at 1015 h GMT, which would place the spacecraft over 23.6º S, 3.6º W, almost overhead as seen from the Yuan Wang 3 tracking ship off the western coast of Angola. The manoeuvre is said to have lasted for ~8 seconds and US Space Command tracking data indicate that the pre- and post-manoeuvre orbits were 91.20 minutes period, 331-336 km altitude and 91.22 minutes, 331-338 km respectively.
When this manoeuvre took place there were some Chinese reports suggesting that the spacecraft would come down after five days in orbit although, earlier in the mission, Chinese scientists with experiments on board the craft had indicated that a flight of seven days was planned.
Whatever the truth was, Shen Zhou 3 remained in orbit through 30 March and, on the following morning at about 0900 h GMT a further small manoeuvre took place, raising the orbit from 91.20 minutes, 330-337 km to 91.23 minutes, 330-340 km. Based on this manoeuvre, a final equator crossing was predicted for 1 April at 08.15 h GMT over 33.8º E, with the landing time estimated to be 08.51 h GMT - a figure which turned out to be correct to the minute.
The final orbit to be catalogued for the complete Shen Zhou 3 spacecraft was 91.21 minutes, 329-338 km (1 April at about 01.30 h GMT). Shortly before retrofire took place, the orbital module was separated from the main Shen Zhou 3 spacecraft (possibly about an hour before the landing) and that was catalogued in a 91.22 minutes, 330-339 km orbit (1 Apr at about 10.30 h GMT). Shortly afterwards, the low-thrust motors on the orbital module raised its orbit to 91.64 minutes, 354-357 km, possibly in anticipation of a larger manoeuvre in the next few days which will match the Shen Zhou 2 orbital module's ~400 km circular orbit.
Shen Zhou 4 is planned for 2002 and it is possible Shen Zhou 5 will fly this year as well. It is possible to speculate that the orbital module from the Shen Zhou 3 mission could be used as a rendezvous target for Shen Zhou 4. However, such an exercise would require this second mission to follow the first within six months. Some estimates based on the behaviour of the Shen Zhou 2 orbital module can be done. After separation from the main spacecraft, the module manoeuvred to a high 389-403 km orbit on 17 January 2001; two orbit-maintenance manoeuvres were completed on 20 February and 15 March, the latter leaving the module in a 394- 405 km orbit; no further manoeuvres took place. By about 26 June, the orbital altitude of the module had been reduced caused by air-drag to the 31-circuit repeating orbit used on both the Shen Zhou 2 and 3 missions.
The Chinese have predicted a lifetime of about six months for the Shen Zhou 3 orbital module, the same prediction they made for the Shen Zhou 2 module (it actually remained in orbit for seven months). This would mean that, assuming a similar orbital behaviour, the Shen Zhou 3 orbital module will have decayed to the 31-circuit rendezvous orbit by about the end of August. Therefore, if Shen Zhou 4 is to perform a rendezvous (but not a docking) with the Shen Zhou 3 orbital module, then a launch can be anticipated during the August-September period - bearing in mind that accurately predicting a decaying orbit this far in advance is impossible.
If the Shen Zhou 4 mission is as successful as the Shen Zhou 3 mission appears to have been, then the Chinese might be tempted to put a two-man crew on Shen Zhou 5 either late in 2002 or in the first half of 2003. Failing this, the first "yuhangyuans" (Chinese equivalent of the US 'astronauts' and the Russians 'cosmonauts') will ride on board Shen Zhou 6 during mid-to-late 2003.
The success of the Shen Zhou 3 mission has spurred the Chinese to release more information concerning both the launch vehicle and the spacecraft.
The "live" launch escape system was flown on the Shen Zhou 3 mission for the first time. This allows an emergency escape to be conducted by the yuhangyuan crew from about 15 minutes before launch through to about 16 seconds after launch when the tower and the lower shroud which surrounds the spacecraft at launch are separated. The fairing has a maximum diameter of 3.8m and, with the tower on top, the total length is 15.1m: the complete assembly has a mass of 11.26 tonnes. It is designed with a reliability of 0.995.
The CZ-2F launch vehicle is a man-rated version of the CZ-2E which has a two-stage core with four strap-on boosters to supplement the first stage. The total length of the vehicle (including the shroud and tower) is 58.34m and, for the Shen Zhou 3 mission, a launch mass of 479.7 tonnes is quoted by The People's Daily.
Shen Zhou itself has a launch mass of ~7.8 tonnes and can operate in orbit in 'solo' mode for about 20 days. It is not clear whether this is 20 'man-days' (about seven days with a three-person crew) or 60 'man days', allowing a three-person crew to remain in orbit for 20 days.
The forward orbital module allows work and living space for the yuhangyuans as well as providing a payload/equipment storage area. At both ends are connecting hatches, one to the descent module and the other to allow entry into a docked spacecraft. This cylindrical module has a diameter of 2.25m and is 2.8m long, with an estimated mass of about two tonnes. Mounted outside the orbital module is a pair of solar panel vanes, which unfold to give a total area of 12m2, as well as solar sensors for orientation in orbit, communications antennae and a docking unit.
The descent module is where the yuhangyuans will sit at launch and landing, with Chinese pictures showing three seats side-by-side - there had previously been speculation in the West that Shen Zhou might be capable of carrying four people at once. At the top of the descent module is the connecting hatch, leading to the orbital module. The beehive-shaped descent module is 2.25m base diameter and 2.095m high, with the outer shell being completely covered with an ablative heat-shield.
Both the orbital and descent modules carry medical instrumentation (presumed to be biomedical monitors for the crew at landing and landing in the descent module), as well as radiation and environmental monitoring equipment.
Below the descent module is the cylindrical instrument module which has a diameter of ~2.5m - flaring to 2.8m where it attaches to the adapter on top of the second stage of the CZ-2F launch vehicle - and a length of 2.94m. Both a main engine - for the primary in-orbit manoeuvres, as well as retrofire - and a secondary low-thrust engine - for small in-orbit manoeuvres - are carried in the instrument module. Outside the instrument module is a pair of solar panel vanes, which unfold to give an area of 24m2.
The People's Daily on 1 April noted that "Although Chinese space officials acknowledge that Shen Zhou is modelled after the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, they insist that Shen Zhou is truly a native space vehicle". This confirms that, although Shen Zhou follows the basic design of the Soyuz, the Russian design was heavily modified for the Chinese programme, and that it is of purely Chinese manufacture.
Shen Zhou 3 - mission report 4
By Phillip S Clark
China's third Shen Zhou test flight ended at 08.51 h GMT on 1 April, with the descent module landing in "the central part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region" in north China, according to the Xinhua news agency. Unlike the return of Shen Zhou 2 in January 2001, for which no photographic record of the landing has been published, pictures of the descent module on the ground were released within hours of Shen Zhou 3's return to Earth.
The spacecraft completed two small manoeuvres using its low-thrust engine in the days leading up to the landing: both were small manoeuvres and it is difficult to pinpoint them purely by calculations because the pre- and post-manoeuvre orbits were so similar.
The Chinese have announced that the first of these small manoeuvres took place on 29 March at 1015 h GMT, which would place the spacecraft over 23.6º S, 3.6º W, almost overhead as seen from the Yuan Wang 3 tracking ship off the western coast of Angola. The manoeuvre is said to have lasted for ~8 seconds and US Space Command tracking data indicate that the pre- and post-manoeuvre orbits were 91.20 minutes period, 331-336 km altitude and 91.22 minutes, 331-338 km respectively.
When this manoeuvre took place there were some Chinese reports suggesting that the spacecraft would come down after five days in orbit although, earlier in the mission, Chinese scientists with experiments on board the craft had indicated that a flight of seven days was planned.
Whatever the truth was, Shen Zhou 3 remained in orbit through 30 March and, on the following morning at about 0900 h GMT a further small manoeuvre took place, raising the orbit from 91.20 minutes, 330-337 km to 91.23 minutes, 330-340 km. Based on this manoeuvre, a final equator crossing was predicted for 1 April at 08.15 h GMT over 33.8º E, with the landing time estimated to be 08.51 h GMT - a figure which turned out to be correct to the minute.
The final orbit to be catalogued for the complete Shen Zhou 3 spacecraft was 91.21 minutes, 329-338 km (1 April at about 01.30 h GMT). Shortly before retrofire took place, the orbital module was separated from the main Shen Zhou 3 spacecraft (possibly about an hour before the landing) and that was catalogued in a 91.22 minutes, 330-339 km orbit (1 Apr at about 10.30 h GMT). Shortly afterwards, the low-thrust motors on the orbital module raised its orbit to 91.64 minutes, 354-357 km, possibly in anticipation of a larger manoeuvre in the next few days which will match the Shen Zhou 2 orbital module's ~400 km circular orbit.
Shen Zhou 4 is planned for 2002 and it is possible Shen Zhou 5 will fly this year as well. It is possible to speculate that the orbital module from the Shen Zhou 3 mission could be used as a rendezvous target for Shen Zhou 4. However, such an exercise would require this second mission to follow the first within six months. Some estimates based on the behaviour of the Shen Zhou 2 orbital module can be done. After separation from the main spacecraft, the module manoeuvred to a high 389-403 km orbit on 17 January 2001; two orbit-maintenance manoeuvres were completed on 20 February and 15 March, the latter leaving the module in a 394- 405 km orbit; no further manoeuvres took place. By about 26 June, the orbital altitude of the module had been reduced caused by air-drag to the 31-circuit repeating orbit used on both the Shen Zhou 2 and 3 missions.
The Chinese have predicted a lifetime of about six months for the Shen Zhou 3 orbital module, the same prediction they made for the Shen Zhou 2 module (it actually remained in orbit for seven months). This would mean that, assuming a similar orbital behaviour, the Shen Zhou 3 orbital module will have decayed to the 31-circuit rendezvous orbit by about the end of August. Therefore, if Shen Zhou 4 is to perform a rendezvous (but not a docking) with the Shen Zhou 3 orbital module, then a launch can be anticipated during the August-September period - bearing in mind that accurately predicting a decaying orbit this far in advance is impossible.
If the Shen Zhou 4 mission is as successful as the Shen Zhou 3 mission appears to have been, then the Chinese might be tempted to put a two-man crew on Shen Zhou 5 either late in 2002 or in the first half of 2003. Failing this, the first "yuhangyuans" (Chinese equivalent of the US 'astronauts' and the Russians 'cosmonauts') will ride on board Shen Zhou 6 during mid-to-late 2003.
The success of the Shen Zhou 3 mission has spurred the Chinese to release more information concerning both the launch vehicle and the spacecraft.
The "live" launch escape system was flown on the Shen Zhou 3 mission for the first time. This allows an emergency escape to be conducted by the yuhangyuan crew from about 15 minutes before launch through to about 16 seconds after launch when the tower and the lower shroud which surrounds the spacecraft at launch are separated. The fairing has a maximum diameter of 3.8m and, with the tower on top, the total length is 15.1m: the complete assembly has a mass of 11.26 tonnes. It is designed with a reliability of 0.995.
The CZ-2F launch vehicle is a man-rated version of the CZ-2E which has a two-stage core with four strap-on boosters to supplement the first stage. The total length of the vehicle (including the shroud and tower) is 58.34m and, for the Shen Zhou 3 mission, a launch mass of 479.7 tonnes is quoted by The People's Daily.
Shen Zhou itself has a launch mass of ~7.8 tonnes and can operate in orbit in 'solo' mode for about 20 days. It is not clear whether this is 20 'man-days' (about seven days with a three-person crew) or 60 'man days', allowing a three-person crew to remain in orbit for 20 days.
The forward orbital module allows work and living space for the yuhangyuans as well as providing a payload/equipment storage area. At both ends are connecting hatches, one to the descent module and the other to allow entry into a docked spacecraft. This cylindrical module has a diameter of 2.25m and is 2.8m long, with an estimated mass of about two tonnes. Mounted outside the orbital module is a pair of solar panel vanes, which unfold to give a total area of 12m2, as well as solar sensors for orientation in orbit, communications antennae and a docking unit.
The descent module is where the yuhangyuans will sit at launch and landing, with Chinese pictures showing three seats side-by-side - there had previously been speculation in the West that Shen Zhou might be capable of carrying four people at once. At the top of the descent module is the connecting hatch, leading to the orbital module. The beehive-shaped descent module is 2.25m base diameter and 2.095m high, with the outer shell being completely covered with an ablative heat-shield.
Both the orbital and descent modules carry medical instrumentation (presumed to be biomedical monitors for the crew at landing and landing in the descent module), as well as radiation and environmental monitoring equipment.
Below the descent module is the cylindrical instrument module which has a diameter of ~2.5m - flaring to 2.8m where it attaches to the adapter on top of the second stage of the CZ-2F launch vehicle - and a length of 2.94m. Both a main engine - for the primary in-orbit manoeuvres, as well as retrofire - and a secondary low-thrust engine - for small in-orbit manoeuvres - are carried in the instrument module. Outside the instrument module is a pair of solar panel vanes, which unfold to give an area of 24m2.
The People's Daily on 1 April noted that "Although Chinese space officials acknowledge that Shen Zhou is modelled after the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, they insist that Shen Zhou is truly a native space vehicle". This confirms that, although Shen Zhou follows the basic design of the Soyuz, the Russian design was heavily modified for the Chinese programme, and that it is of purely Chinese manufacture.很有意思的，建议英文不错的朋友们都来看看
Shen Zhou 3 - mission report 4
By Phillip S Clark
China's third Shen Zhou test flight ended at 08.51 h GMT on 1 April, with the descent module landing in "the central part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region" in north China, according to the Xinhua news agency. Unlike the return of Shen Zhou 2 in January 2001, for which no photographic record of the landing has been published, pictures of the descent module on the ground were released within hours of Shen Zhou 3's return to Earth.
The spacecraft completed two small manoeuvres using its low-thrust engine in the days leading up to the landing: both were small manoeuvres and it is difficult to pinpoint them purely by calculations because the pre- and post-manoeuvre orbits were so similar.
The Chinese have announced that the first of these small manoeuvres took place on 29 March at 1015 h GMT, which would place the spacecraft over 23.6º S, 3.6º W, almost overhead as seen from the Yuan Wang 3 tracking ship off the western coast of Angola. The manoeuvre is said to have lasted for ~8 seconds and US Space Command tracking data indicate that the pre- and post-manoeuvre orbits were 91.20 minutes period, 331-336 km altitude and 91.22 minutes, 331-338 km respectively.
When this manoeuvre took place there were some Chinese reports suggesting that the spacecraft would come down after five days in orbit although, earlier in the mission, Chinese scientists with experiments on board the craft had indicated that a flight of seven days was planned.
Whatever the truth was, Shen Zhou 3 remained in orbit through 30 March and, on the following morning at about 0900 h GMT a further small manoeuvre took place, raising the orbit from 91.20 minutes, 330-337 km to 91.23 minutes, 330-340 km. Based on this manoeuvre, a final equator crossing was predicted for 1 April at 08.15 h GMT over 33.8º E, with the landing time estimated to be 08.51 h GMT - a figure which turned out to be correct to the minute.
The final orbit to be catalogued for the complete Shen Zhou 3 spacecraft was 91.21 minutes, 329-338 km (1 April at about 01.30 h GMT). Shortly before retrofire took place, the orbital module was separated from the main Shen Zhou 3 spacecraft (possibly about an hour before the landing) and that was catalogued in a 91.22 minutes, 330-339 km orbit (1 Apr at about 10.30 h GMT). Shortly afterwards, the low-thrust motors on the orbital module raised its orbit to 91.64 minutes, 354-357 km, possibly in anticipation of a larger manoeuvre in the next few days which will match the Shen Zhou 2 orbital module's ~400 km circular orbit.
Shen Zhou 4 is planned for 2002 and it is possible Shen Zhou 5 will fly this year as well. It is possible to speculate that the orbital module from the Shen Zhou 3 mission could be used as a rendezvous target for Shen Zhou 4. However, such an exercise would require this second mission to follow the first within six months. Some estimates based on the behaviour of the Shen Zhou 2 orbital module can be done. After separation from the main spacecraft, the module manoeuvred to a high 389-403 km orbit on 17 January 2001; two orbit-maintenance manoeuvres were completed on 20 February and 15 March, the latter leaving the module in a 394- 405 km orbit; no further manoeuvres took place. By about 26 June, the orbital altitude of the module had been reduced caused by air-drag to the 31-circuit repeating orbit used on both the Shen Zhou 2 and 3 missions.
The Chinese have predicted a lifetime of about six months for the Shen Zhou 3 orbital module, the same prediction they made for the Shen Zhou 2 module (it actually remained in orbit for seven months). This would mean that, assuming a similar orbital behaviour, the Shen Zhou 3 orbital module will have decayed to the 31-circuit rendezvous orbit by about the end of August. Therefore, if Shen Zhou 4 is to perform a rendezvous (but not a docking) with the Shen Zhou 3 orbital module, then a launch can be anticipated during the August-September period - bearing in mind that accurately predicting a decaying orbit this far in advance is impossible.
If the Shen Zhou 4 mission is as successful as the Shen Zhou 3 mission appears to have been, then the Chinese might be tempted to put a two-man crew on Shen Zhou 5 either late in 2002 or in the first half of 2003. Failing this, the first "yuhangyuans" (Chinese equivalent of the US 'astronauts' and the Russians 'cosmonauts') will ride on board Shen Zhou 6 during mid-to-late 2003.
The success of the Shen Zhou 3 mission has spurred the Chinese to release more information concerning both the launch vehicle and the spacecraft.
The "live" launch escape system was flown on the Shen Zhou 3 mission for the first time. This allows an emergency escape to be conducted by the yuhangyuan crew from about 15 minutes before launch through to about 16 seconds after launch when the tower and the lower shroud which surrounds the spacecraft at launch are separated. The fairing has a maximum diameter of 3.8m and, with the tower on top, the total length is 15.1m: the complete assembly has a mass of 11.26 tonnes. It is designed with a reliability of 0.995.
The CZ-2F launch vehicle is a man-rated version of the CZ-2E which has a two-stage core with four strap-on boosters to supplement the first stage. The total length of the vehicle (including the shroud and tower) is 58.34m and, for the Shen Zhou 3 mission, a launch mass of 479.7 tonnes is quoted by The People's Daily.
Shen Zhou itself has a launch mass of ~7.8 tonnes and can operate in orbit in 'solo' mode for about 20 days. It is not clear whether this is 20 'man-days' (about seven days with a three-person crew) or 60 'man days', allowing a three-person crew to remain in orbit for 20 days.
The forward orbital module allows work and living space for the yuhangyuans as well as providing a payload/equipment storage area. At both ends are connecting hatches, one to the descent module and the other to allow entry into a docked spacecraft. This cylindrical module has a diameter of 2.25m and is 2.8m long, with an estimated mass of about two tonnes. Mounted outside the orbital module is a pair of solar panel vanes, which unfold to give a total area of 12m2, as well as solar sensors for orientation in orbit, communications antennae and a docking unit.
The descent module is where the yuhangyuans will sit at launch and landing, with Chinese pictures showing three seats side-by-side - there had previously been speculation in the West that Shen Zhou might be capable of carrying four people at once. At the top of the descent module is the connecting hatch, leading to the orbital module. The beehive-shaped descent module is 2.25m base diameter and 2.095m high, with the outer shell being completely covered with an ablative heat-shield.
Both the orbital and descent modules carry medical instrumentation (presumed to be biomedical monitors for the crew at landing and landing in the descent module), as well as radiation and environmental monitoring equipment.
Below the descent module is the cylindrical instrument module which has a diameter of ~2.5m - flaring to 2.8m where it attaches to the adapter on top of the second stage of the CZ-2F launch vehicle - and a length of 2.94m. Both a main engine - for the primary in-orbit manoeuvres, as well as retrofire - and a secondary low-thrust engine - for small in-orbit manoeuvres - are carried in the instrument module. Outside the instrument module is a pair of solar panel vanes, which unfold to give an area of 24m2.
The People's Daily on 1 April noted that "Although Chinese space officials acknowledge that Shen Zhou is modelled after the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, they insist that Shen Zhou is truly a native space vehicle". This confirms that, although Shen Zhou follows the basic design of the Soyuz, the Russian design was heavily modified for the Chinese programme, and that it is of purely Chinese manufacture.
胜大哥，你什么时候要？我给你翻译。