- BEIJING (AFP) -- The third
mission in China's fledgling space programme has been successfully completed
and yielded "important breakthroughs" towards sending a human
into orbit, state press said Friday.
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- The orbital module of the unmanned Shenzhou III (Divine
Vessel III) craft, the main capsule of which returned to earth in April,
had finished its observation talks after circling the globe 2,821 times,
the PLA Daily reported.
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- The module made atmospheric readings and undertook scientific
experiments, in particular using infra-red detectors, which allowed it
to collect "valuable scientific data", the paper said.
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- The report did not specify what would happen to the orbital
craft now the work of Shenzhou III, first launched on March 25, was over.
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- The experiences gained from the mission and its predecessor
Shenzhou II, had helped the Chinese space programme make "important
breakthroughs forming the basis of remote control techniques and on the
issue of survival in space," the PLA Daily said.
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- Officials in charge of Shenzhou III have already declared
that although the craft carried no humans, it was "technically adapted
for astronauts".
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- China's fiercely ambitious space programme aims to make
the country the third to put a human into orbit after the former Soviet
Union and the United States.
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- One more unmanned flight is expected, Shenzhou IV, which
is set to lift off early next year at the latest, state media said recently.
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- In May, other official media said that a longer-term
plan was to establish a base on the moon in order to exploit its mineral
resources.
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- China set up its manned space program in 1992 and the
first experimental spacecraft was launched on November 20, 1999, returning
to earth in Inner Mongolia the next day.
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- The Shenzhou II was launched on January 10, 2001, with
the re-entry module orbiting the earth 108 times in six days, while an
orbital module remained in orbit for nine months, successfully performing
a series of tests.
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- The Shenzhou II module's return was greeted by a press
blackout that left Western analysts suspecting a re-entry failure. Chinese
officials denied this.
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- SPACE.WIRE
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