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 UTC |
| Rocket | Chang Zheng 2F |
| Launch site | Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-1 |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | April 1, 2002, 08:51 UTC |
| Landing site | Inner Mongolia |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Inclination | 42.40 degrees |
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Shenzhou missions
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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.
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.
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.
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