Shenzhou
China's manned spacecraft; its name means "Divine Vessel." Shenzhou is similar
to Russia's Soyuz and was developed with assistance
from Russian space experts. Like Soyuz, Shenzhou consists of a descent module
containing the main crew cabin, a service module containing the craft's
retrorockets, and an orbital module for conducting scientific experiments.
Only the descent module returns to Earth. Unlike Soyuz, however, the orbital
module contains its own propuksion system and can remain in orbit, unpiloted,
to conduct research. Four unmanned test flights of Shenzhou were conducted
from 1999 to 2003. In October 2003 Yang Liwei piloted Shenzhou 5 on the
first manned Chinese spaceflight. More Shenzhou missions are planned likely
leading to the construction of an orbiting space
station.
Related category
• MANNED
SPACEFLIGHT
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