Portal:Spaceflight/Selected article/Week 38 2008

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shenzhou 5 return capsule.

Shenzhou 5 (Chinese: 神舟五号; pinyin: shénzhōu wǔ hào) was the first human spaceflight mission of the People's Republic of China, launched on October 15, 2003. Shenzhou spacecraft, which are launched using Long March 2F rockets, resemble Soyuz spacecraft. They are however substantially larger and, unlike Soyuz, they include powered orbital modules capable of autonomous flight. (more...)