Trajectory & orbital insertion
Ascent path is a representation — true ascent telemetry isn’t public.
Provider
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
Provider type
Government
Orbit
LEO
Mission type
Human Exploration
Launch site
China
Date
Tue, 09 Jan 2001 17:00:03 GMT
Orbital launch #
#4453 ever
Mission
Second test flight of the Shenzhou spacecraft, without crew on board. A monkey, a dog, and a rabbit were carried in a test of the spaceship's life support systems. There were also 64 different scientific payloads, including a microgravity crystallography experiment; animal species including six mice, small aquatic and terrestrial organisms; cosmic ray and particle detectors and gamma-ray burst detectors. To test the radio transmitting systems taped messages were broadcast from the spacecraft. During return to Earth the parachutes failed to open upon re-entry, which resulted in a hard landing of the descent capsule.