Report: first Chinese manned mission nearly ended in disaster
Posted: Tue, Aug 14, 2007, 9:19 AM ET (1319 GMT)
China's first manned space mission, Shenzhou 5, nearly had a fatal ending when spacecraft controllers could not communicate or locate the spacecraft during reentry, Chinese officials said Monday. Engineers had anticipated that there would be a communications blackout during the reentry of Shenzhou 5 in October 2003, carrying Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei, but were unable to locate the capsule on radar during that time, and "the echo signals from the spaceship were still volatile" after the capsule emerged from the blackout area, according to a report by the Xinhua official news agency. Without tracking information, controllers risked not deploying parachutes at the proper time and thus risked a crash. Controllers were able to eventually used ground-based cameras to locate the spacecraft and have it come down safely, although the capsule did land nine kilometers from its planned site.
China's first manned space mission, Shenzhou 5, nearly had a fatal ending when spacecraft controllers could not communicate or locate the spacecraft during reentry, Chinese officials said Monday. Engineers had anticipated that there would be a communications blackout during the reentry of Shenzhou 5 in October 2003, carrying Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei, but were unable to locate the capsule on radar during that time, and "the echo signals from the spaceship were still volatile" after the capsule emerged from the blackout area, according to a report by the Xinhua official news agency. Without tracking information, controllers risked not deploying parachutes at the proper time and thus risked a crash. Controllers were able to eventually used ground-based cameras to locate the spacecraft and have it come down safely, although the capsule did land nine kilometers from its planned site.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
SpaceX sets Nov. 18 launch date for sixth Starship test flight
Posted: Sat, Nov 9 9:57 AM ET (1457 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Friday, November 22
Space Force eyes SpaceX’s Starship for future rocket cargo delivery missions
Defensescoop — 1:37 am ET (0637 GMT) Anduril receives nearly $100M deal to modernize Space Surveillance Network
Defensescoop — 1:36 am ET (0636 GMT) Anduril Awarded Program of Record Contract to Modernize Space Surveillance Network
Anduril — 1:36 am ET (0636 GMT) One contractor is on the Space Force’s naughty list
Defense One — 1:35 am ET (0635 GMT) Private Space Companies Thriving as NASA Picks SpaceX and Blue Origin for Moon Cargo Missions
Inc. — 1:34 am ET (0634 GMT) |
