Shenzhou-8 to be fixed version of China-made space vessels: expert
13/10/2005 14:58
With a lot of modifications and improvements in the series of Shenzhou
spacecraft capsules, Shenzhou-8 is expected to become a relatively fixed version
of China-made space vessels, said Zhang Bainan, chief designer of China's
spacecraft system.
According to Zhang, China has been making improvements
from Shenzhou-1 to Shenzhou-6 spaceships. Every capsule has new technological
features, to make the spacecraft perfect.
The design of Shenzhou series has
avoided the defects of Russia's Soyuz vessel from the beginning and adopted more
advanced technology. In addition, quite a number of ground experiments have been
conducted from Shenzhou-1 to Shenzhou-6 to test every detail of the
capsules.
As long as a final design is worked out, basic craft elements such
as the shape, internal structure, control service system and data transmission
will be fixed, but minor modifications may be necessary for different missions,
the designer said.
Xinhua
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