Six months after China's first manned flight, the orbital module of Shenzhou V has completed its space flight as scheduled.
At 13:00 pm Thursday, the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center ended its tracing and control of the orbital module.
The orbital module was set to fly in space for six months after being separated from the return module, orbiting 2,700 loops around the earth. Now it has reached its life span, said Wang Yongzhi, general designer of China's manned flight project.
The module accomplished scientific researches and technological experiments, scoring a host of achievements in space science at a sophisticated international level.
According to Wang, the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center monitored the module every day and sent over 2,000 remote orders during the past six months. During the flight, numerous adjustment procedures were conducted to ensure its safety, added Wang.
Different from the United States and Russia, the orbital module flight is one salient feature of China's design for manned flight. From Shenzhou II to Shenzhou V, China has successfully conducted orbital module flights four times.
(Xinhua News Agency April 16, 2004)
