Shenzhou 3

2002 Chinese uncrewed spaceflight

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Shenzhou 3

Mission type| Test flight
COSPAR ID| 2002-014A
SATCAT no.| 27397
Mission duration| 6 days, 18 hours, 51 minutes
Orbits completed| 107
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type| Shenzhou
Start of mission
Launch date| March 25, 2002, 14:15:04 (2002-03-25UTC14:15:04Z) UTC
Rocket| Chang Zheng 2F
Launch site| Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-1
End of mission
Landing date| April 1, 2002, 08:51 (2002-04-01UTC08:52Z) UTC
Landing site| Inner Mongolia[vague]
Orbital parameters
Reference system| Geocentric
Regime| Low Earth
Inclination| 42.40 degrees

Shenzhou missions

<- Shenzhou 2

Shenzhou 4 ->

Shenzhou 3 (Chinese: 神舟三号) launched on March 25, 2002, was the third unmanned launch of China's Shenzhou spacecraft. This was the first Shenzhou spacecraft launched that could have actually carried a human and as such the main objective of the mission was to test the systems required to support a human in space. On board it carried a dummy to simulate physiological signals of a human — palpitation, pulse, breathing, eating, metabolism, and excretion.

The launch had been delayed several months due to design changes. It had been planned that Shenzhou 3 would use a new interior design but implementation problems meant reverting to the previous version. The rocket and spacecraft were eventually rolled out on the pad during the Fifth Session of the Ninth National People's Congress and the Ninth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in early March 2002.

## Orbit

[edit]

It is thought that Shenzhou 3 changed its orbit twice during the mission. The first was on March 29 at 10:15 UTC when the aft maneuvering thrusters fired for about 8 seconds putting it into a 330.2 km x 337.2 km orbit. The second was on March 31. Both times were to raise its orbit. Shenzhou 3 operated in a slightly less inclined orbit of 42.40° to the previous Shenzhou 1 and 2 flights, which were in about 42.59° inclined orbits.

## Scientific payload

[edit]

On board were carried 44 different experiments. These included an imaging spectrograph, cloud sensor, radiation sensor, solar ultraviolet monitor, solar constant monitor, atmospheric composition detector, atmospheric density detector, multi-chamber space crystallization furnace, space protein crystal equipment, a cell bioreactor, a solid matter tracking detector and microgravity gauge. Also on board was a video camera that broadcast images of the Earth as seen through one of the windows on the spacecraft. To test the radio transmitting systems, a pre-recorded female voice was transmitted.

## Reentry

[edit]

Shenzhou 3 reentered and landed successfully after 107 orbits. Unlike Shenzhou 2 where no photos had been released of the landing capsule, this time photos were released confirmed a successful touchdown. As with Shenzhou 2 the Orbital Module stayed in orbit for an extended mission. During this time it made some orbital adjustments, raising its orbit. Although it was speculated that it could serve as a docking target for Shenzhou 4, this did not turn out to be the case. Its mission ended in October 2002 and it reentered on November 12 at about 06:38 UTC over 22°S 109° E over the Indian Ocean off western Australia.

## Launch

[edit]

The launch of Shenzhou 3 was attended by General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President Jiang Zemin. Along with him were Wu Bangguo, member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and Vice-Premier; Zeng Qinghong, alternate member of the Politburo and member of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party; Yu Yongbo, member of the Central Military Commission and director of the People's Liberation Army's General Political Department; and Cao Gangchuan, member of the Central Military Commission and director of the People's Liberation Army's General Armament Department.

## Escape system

[edit]

Shenzhou 3 was the first Long March 2F launch to feature a working launch escape system. Also added were two manual system that would have allowed an astronaut to activate the system in case of emergency. It was tested during the launch phase though Chinese officials did not confirm if the test was successful.

A day after launch China Central Television broadcast an artist impression of the spacecraft in orbit. Of interest was that the front of the orbital module appeared to have been equipped with three seven element log-periodic antennae. It is thought that it was designed for a frequency range of 300–1000 MHz. Also shown was an animation of the orbital module after it had separated from the rest of the spacecraft. Three booms were extended from the front package, one left, another right and the third forward. It is speculated that this could have been some sort of ELINT package.

## See also

[edit]

* Spaceflight portal
* China portal

* Chinese space program
* Tiangong program
* Shenzhou spacecraft
* Long March rocket
* Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center

## References

[edit]

* Wei, Long (March 12, 2001). "Shenzhou 3 On The Pad Awaiting Launch". SpaceDaily. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
* Wei, Long (March 13, 2001). "Shenzhou Design Changes Reason For Launch Delay". SpaceDaily. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
* People's Daily (March 26, 2001). "China's President Attends Launch". SpaceDaily. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
* Wei, Long (March 28, 2001). "Shenzhou 3 Proceeds Smoothly Halfway Through Mission". SpaceDaily. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
* David, Leonard (March 28, 2001). "Voice Heard From China's Shenzhou 3". Space.com. Archived from the original on May 23, 2009. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
* Wei, Long (March 31, 2001). "Shenzhou 3 Back On Earth Monday". SpaceDaily. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
* Wei, Long (April 1, 2001). "New Details Of Shenzhou And Its Launcher Revealed". SpaceDaily. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
* Andrews, Ted (April 1, 2001). "China's Shenzhou 3 Capsule Returns to Earth". Space.com. Archived from the original on November 10, 2009. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
* Wei, Long (November 25, 2001). "Shenzhou 3 Module Reentry Wraps Up Long-Duration Mission". SpaceDaily. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
* Grahn, Sven. "The flight of Shenzhou 3". Retrieved 2010-12-13.

* v
* t
* e

China Manned Space Program

* China Manned Space Agency
* Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center
* People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps
* Taikonauts

Shenzhou missions|

| Uncrewed|

* Shenzhou 1
* 2
* 3
* 4
* 8

|

Crewed|

* Shenzhou 5
* 6
* 7
* 9
* 10
* 11
* 12
* 13
* 14
* 15
* 16
* 17
* 18
* 19
* 20

Tianzhou missions|

* Tianzhou 1
* 2
* 3
* 4
* 5
* 6
* 7
* 8
* 9

Space stations|

* Tiangong program
* Tiangong-1
* 2
* ~~3~~
* Tiangong space station

Hardware|

* Shenzhou
* Tianzhou
* Long March
* 2F
* 7
* 5B
* Feitian space suit

Facility|

* Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center
* Wenchang Space Launch Site
* Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
* Siziwang Banner (landing site)

Related|

* CNSA
* Project 921
* Shuguang
* Chinese women in space
* Shuguang Group 1970 list
* China Group 1996
* Chinese Group 1
* Group 2
* Group 3
* Yuan Wang tracking ship
* Mengzhou

* Underline indicates current missions
* Italics indicates future missions

* v
* t
* e

← 2001

Orbital launches in 2002

2003 →

January|

* USA-164
* INSAT-3C

February|

* Tsubasa, DASH, VEP-3
* HESSI
* Iridium 90, Iridium 91, Iridium 94, Iridium 95, Iridium 96
* EchoStar VII
* Intelsat 904
* Kosmos 2387

March|

* Envisat
* STS-109
* TDRS-9
* GRACE
* Progress M1-8
* Shenzhou 3
* JCSAT-8, Astra 3A
* Intelsat 903

April|

* Kosmos 2388
* STS-110 (ITS S0)
* NSS-7
* Soyuz TM-34

May|

* SPOT-5, Idefix
* Aqua
* DirecTV-5
* Feng Yun 1D, Hai Yang 1A
* Ofek-5
* Kosmos 2389

June|

* Intelsat 905
* STS-111 (Leonardo MPLM)
* Ekspress A1R
* Galaxy 3C
* Iridium 97, Iridium 98
* NOAA-17
* Progress M-46

July|

* CONTOUR
* Stellat 5, N-STAR c
* Kosmos 2390, Kosmos 2391
* Kosmos 2392

August|

* Hot Bird 6
* EchoStar VIII
* Atlantic Bird 1, MSG-1

September|

* Intelsat 906
* USERS, Kodama
* METSAT
* Tsinghua 2
* Hispasat 1D
* Progress M1-9
* Nadezhda 7

October|

* STS-112 (ITS S1)
* Foton-M No.1
* INTEGRAL
* Zi Yuan 2B
* Soyuz TMA-1

November|

* STS-113 (ITS P1, MEPSI 1A, MEPSI 1B)
* Astra 1K
* AlSAT-1, Mozhayets 3, Rubin-3

December|

* TDRS-10
* Hot Bird 7, Stentor, MFD-A, MFD-B
* ADEOS II, Kanta Kun, FedSat, µ-LabSat 1 (RITE 1, RITE 2)
* NSS-6
* TrailBlazer-2001 STA, Saudisat 1C, LatinSat A, LatinSat B, UniSat 2, Rubin 2
* Kosmos 2393
* Kosmos 2394, Kosmos 2395, Kosmos 2396
* Shenzhou 4
* Nimiq 2

Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ).
Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
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