Shenzhou 8
Diagram of Shenzhou-8 (right) docked with Tiangong-1 (left)
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| COSPAR ID | 2011-063A |
|---|---|
| SATCAT no. | 37859 |
| Mission duration | 16 1⁄2 days |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | Shenzhou |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 31 October 2011, 21:58:10.430 UTC |
| Rocket | Long March 2F |
| Launch site | Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-1 |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | 17 November 2011, 11:32 UTC |
| Landing site | Siziwang Banner, central Inner Mongolia |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Inclination | 51.36872 degrees |
| Docking with Tiangong-1 | |
| Docking date | 2 November 2011, 17:28 UTC |
| Undocking date | 14 November 2011, 11:24 UTC |
| Time docked | 10 days, 20 hours |
| Docking with Tiangong-1 | |
| Docking date | 14 November 2011, 12:07 UTC |
| Undocking date | 16 November 2011, 10:30 UTC |
| Time docked | 1 day, 22 hours, 23 minutes |
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Shenzhou missions
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| Shenzhou 8 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 神舟八号 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Shénzhōu Bāhào |
| Gwoyeu Romatzyh | Shernjou bahaw |
| Wade–Giles | Shenchao pahao |
| IPA | [ʂə̌nʈʂóu páxâu] |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Yale Romanization | Shenjou bahau |
| IPA | [sɐ̏ntsɐ̄u pāːthɐ̀u] |
| Jyutping | San4zau1 baat3hou6 |
Shenzhou 8 (Chinese: 神舟八号) was an unmanned flight of China's Shenzhou program, launched on October 31, 2011 UTC, or November 1 in China, by a Long March 2F rocket which lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
The Shenzhou 8 spacecraft was automatically docked with the Tiangong-1 space module (launched on 29 September 2011) on November 3 and again on November 14, 2011. This unmanned docking—China's first—was followed in 2012 with the manned Shenzhou 9 mission, which performed a manned docking (also China's first) with the Tiangong-1 module. Only the Soviet Union (Russia), Japan and the European Space Agency had achieved automatic rendezvous and docking prior to China's accomplishment.
On September 29, 2008, Zhang Jianqi (张建启), Vice Director of China manned space engineering, announced in an interview of China Central Television that Tiangong-1, an 8-ton "target vehicle", would be launched in 2010 (now 2011), and that Shenzhou 8, Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10 were all intended to dock with it.
On October 1, 2008, Shanghai Space Administration, which participated in the development of Shenzhou 8, stated that they have succeeded in the simulated experiments for the docking of Tiangong-1 and Shenzhou 8.
As of February 2009[update], the launch of Shenzhou 8 was planned for early 2011. By March 2011, the launch had been postponed until October 2011.
Shenzhou 8 was launched at 21:58 UTC on October 31, 2011 (November 1 in China) by a Long March 2F rocket. The launch lifted off from 921/SLS-1 Launch Pad at the Southern Launch Site of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
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