Shenzhou 6

] At 01:39 UTC Chen Bingde, the Chief Commander of the Chinese space program, announced the launch was successful. The crew ate their first meal in space at 03:11 UTC.

Before the flight, the launch time had been the object of speculation by the Chinese media. For several months before the planned launch its time was only given as mid-October, or even late-September. Then on 23 September it was reported by the Hong Kong-based news agency "China News Service" that the launch was tentatively scheduled for 03:00 UTC on 13 October. This launch time was confirmed two weeks later by Jiang Jingshan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. But then on 10 October an official from the technical department of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center said the launch was then scheduled for 01:00 UTC on 12 October. This new launch time could have been designed to dodge the cold weather which had been forecast to hit the area. [cite news|url=http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/10/07/051007141138.qthokwkq.html|title=Cold weather may force China to postpone manned space mission: report|publisher=Agence France-Presse|date=2005-10-07|accessdate=2006-09-17] Assembly of the rocket was reported complete on 26 September. [cite news|url=http://english.people.com.cn/200509/26/eng20050926_210970.html|title=Shenzhou-6 spaceship finishes assembling|publisher=People's Daily|date=2005-09-26|accessdate=2006-09-17] On 4 October, the "Shenzhou 6" spacecraft was attached to the CZ-2F rocket, also known as "Shenjian". [cite news|url=http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2005-10-06/03317101389s.shtml|title=神六飞船与神箭在酒泉发射中心完美对接|publisher=Sina.com|date=2005-10-06|accessdate=2006-09-17]

Unlike the unmanned Shenzhou flights, "Shenzhou 5" and "6" were launched during daylight hours to provide greater safety in case of abort. The launch was televised live with China Central Television selling advertising for RMB¥2.56 million (US$316,000) for five seconds, to RMB¥8.56 million (US$1 million) for 30 seconds. [cite news|url=http://www.sinodaily.com/2005/050920101933.sj5y9qa3.html|title=State TV begins selling ads for China's manned space flight|publisher=Agence France-Presse|date=2005-09-20|accessdate=2006-09-17] A video camera had been added to the rocket and images of it were broadcast during the ascent and the separation of the Shenzhou spacecraft.

Shortly after launch, recovery crews began searching a region from the Badain Jaran Desert in Inner Mongolia to Shaanxi for the launch escape tower, booster rockets, first stage and payload fairing. Of particular interest was the "black box" of the rocket, which contained telemetry that may not have been downlinked during the launch phase. It was found 45 minutes after launch somewhere near Otog Banner. It was first sighted by a herdswoman, Lian Hua, about 1.5 km from her home. Other wreckage from the launch was found and destroyed at its impact location or brought back to Jiuquan. [cite news|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-10/12/content_3608596.htm|title=Rocket "black box" found in Inner Mongolia|publisher=Xinhua News Agency|date=2005-10-12|accessdate=2006-09-17]

President Hu Jintao was present at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center to watch the launch. Premier Wen Jiabao was present at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

Five days in orbit

The first of several orbit changing maneuvers happened as planned at 07:54:45, with a 63 second burn to circularize the orbit. Based on United States Space Command orbital elements, it was in a 332 by 336 km (206 by 209 statute miles) orbit. After about an hour and a half, the hatch between the re-entry and orbital modules was opened and, for the first time, crew were able to enter the second living compartment of the Shenzhou spacecraft. Fèi Jùnlóng was the first to enter, while Niè Hǎishèng remained in the reentry module. They would swap positions about three hours later.

At 13:32 UTC, Niè and Fèi had a seven minute conversation with their wives and children who were in Mission Control. [cite news|url=http://www.china.org.cn/english/TRsummer/77436.htm|title=Chinese Astronaut Calls Family from Space|publisher=Xinhua News Agency|date=2005-10-15|accessdate=2006-09-17] Niè's daughter sang "Happy Birthday to You", as his birthday is 13 October.

The activities of the crew were not fully revealed by the Chinese. Only vague references to experiments were made, though some were made public. One experiment involved the crew testing the reaction of the spacecraft to movement within the orbital and reentry modules. They moved between the modules, opening and closing the hatches and operating equipment with "more strength" than normally required. [cite news|url=http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:ZCpwSP6DZU8J:www.shanghaidaily.com/art/2005/10/13/202008/Astronauts_test_the_spacecraft.htm+Astronauts_test_the_spacecraft&hl=en&gl=nz&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=firefox-a|title=Astronauts test the spacecraft|date=2005-10-13|publisher=Shanghai Daily|accessdate=2006-09-17]

A second orbital maneuver occurred at 21:56 on October 13. It raised the orbit that had been lowered due to atmospheric drag, and lasted 6.5 seconds.

On October 15, Niè and Fèi had a two minute conversation with President Hu Jintao, beginning at 08:29. During the conversation, Hu told them "The motherland and people are proud of you. I hope you will successfully complete your task by carrying out the mission calmly and carefully and have a triumphant return". [cite news|url=http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/051015_shenzhou6_day4.html|title=Chinese President Praises Shenzhou 6 Crew |date=2005-10-15|publisher=Space.com|accessdate=2006-09-17]

Re-entry and landing

The re-entry process began at 19:44 on October 16 when the orbital module separated as planned from the rest of the spacecraft. Unlike with the Soyuz spacecraft, this is done before the re-entry burn, allowing the orbital module to stay in orbit for extended months-long missions or to act as a docking target for later flights. The orbital module fired its engines twice on 19 October to give it a circular orbit with a height of 355 km (220 miles). [cite news|url=http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/051021_shenzhou6_orbital_module.html|title=Shenzhou 6 Orbital Module Reaches Higher Orbit|date=2005-10-21|publisher=Space.com|accessdate=2006-09-17]

One minute after this separation, the engines on the service module ignited over the coast of West Africa to slow the spacecraft. At 20:07, the re-entry module separated and five minutes later the re-entry proper began, as the Shenzhou capsule entered the top of the atmosphere, over China. The communications blackout that occurs during re-entry started at 20:16 and two minutes later radio communication was regained with the spacecraft. The main parachute opened and the capsule began to slowly descend to a landing on the Inner Mongolia northern grasslands at 4:33 a.m. local time (20:33 UTC). [cite news|url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0510/16shenzhou6/|title=Chinese astronauts return from space|publisher=Spaceflight Now|date=October 16, 2005] The capsule landed approximately 1 km (about 1000 yards) from its planned target. [cite news|url=http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/2238/2005-10-17/[e-mail]|title=Shenzhou-6 Landed Successfully|date=2005-10-17|publisher=China Radio International|accessdate=2006-09-17]

About half an hour after landing, the recovery forces had the hatch of the spacecraft open and first Fèi, and then Niè emerged. Hou Ying, chief designer of the landing site system, said the recovery was improved over that of "Shenzhou 5". [cite news|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-10/17/content_3623154.htm|title=Shenzhou-6's recovery extremely satisfactory|date=2005-10-17|publisher=Xinhua News Agency|accessdate=2006-09-17] After medical check-ups and a light meal the astronauts were put on a special plane bound for Beijing, where they were placed into medical isolation for the following two weeks. [cite news|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-10/18/content_3638323.htm|title=Astronauts in medical isolation|date=2005-10-18|publisher=China Central Television|accessdate=2006-09-17] At 21:46, Chen Bingde had declared the entire mission to be a success.

The capsule was returned to Beijing by train and handed over to China Research Institute of Space Technology at Changping railway station. [cite news|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-10/18/content_3642275.htm|title=Shenzhou-6 re-entry capsule handed over to developer|date=2005-10-18|publisher=Xinhua News Agency|accessdate=2006-09-17]

The orbital module continued to orbit the Earth, gathering more information from experiments onboard. The module also gave Chinese mission controllers experience at long-duration spaceflights. After 2,920 orbits of the Earth, its active mission ended on April 15, 2006. It is still in orbit, and will reenter when its orbit sufficiently decays. [cite news|url=http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Orbiting_Chinese_Space_Capsule_Completes_Mission.html|title=Orbiting Chinese Space Capsule Completes Mission|date=2006-04-15|publisher=Agence France-Presse|accessdate=2006-09-17]

There were two planned landing sites for the mission. The primary site was the banner of Siziwang in Inner Mongolia. The secondary site was at the Jiuquan launch site. In addition, there were recovery forces at Yinchuan, Yulin and Handan. It is also possible for the Shenzhou spacecraft to splashdown in the ocean should the need arise, with further recovery crews in the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. [cite news|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-10/12/content_3608775.htm|title=Landing field system operating after Shenzhou-6 lifts off|date=2005-10-12|publisher=Xinhua News Agency|accessdate=2006-09-17]

Some Chinese diplomats are trained and equipped for any emergency landing at sites that are not on Chinese territory. Zhang Shuting, chief designer of the emergency and rescue system, has said that emergency landing sites have been identified in Australia, Southwest Asia, North Africa, Western Europe, the United States and South America. [cite news|url=http://english.people.com.cn/200510/14/eng20051014_214371.html|title=Shenzhou-6 able to return in emergency at any time: chief designer|date=2005-10-14|publisher=People's Daily|accessdate=2006-09-17] The diplomatic mission nearest to the landing site will be given the task to head any rescue mission if necessary. The Chinese government had advised Australia that emergency landing sites have been identified in New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Emergency Management Australia, the Australian government agency that co-ordinates the response to major contingencies, has said they are ready to deal with any emergencies that arise during spaceflights. [cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/in-case-of-cosmic-crisis-just-crash-near-australia/2005/10/11/1128796528933.html|title=Crisis? Crash near Oz|date=2005-10-12|publisher=Sydney Morning Herald|accessdate=2006-09-17] However, the return module is designed to allow access from the outside only to those with a special key. A copy of this key has not been made available to Australian officials, but it was reported that an unnamed Chinese military attaché at the Chinese embassy in Canberra had one. [cite news|url=http://www.csuchen.de/news/viewarticle.php?id=116153|title=Secrets for Chinese eyes only if space capsule falls to earth|date=2005-10-15|publisher=The Australian|accessdate=2006-09-17]

Project management

As with previous Shenzhou series, Chinese military is heavily involved, and in official Chinese documents, project managers are referred as project commanders instead:
*General project manager / commander: Chen Bingde
*1st vice general project manager / commander: Lieutenant General Hu Shixiang (胡世祥), vice director-general of General Armaments Department
*Vice general project manager / commander: Zhang Qingwei
*Vice general project manager / commander: Jiang Mianheng
*Vice general project manager / commander: Sun Laiyan
*General engineer: Wang Yongzhi
*Vice general engineer: Zhou Jianping (周建平), who was born in Wangcheng County, 1957. He obtained his M.S .from Dalian University of Technology, his Ph.D from National University of Defense Technology, where he became a professor. From 1993 thru 1995, he studies in the United States. He would later become the general engineer for Shenzhou 7.
*Director of Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center: Major General Zhang Yulin (张育林)
*Vice director of Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center: Major General Cui Jijun (崔吉俊)
*General engineer of ground support at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center: Wang Jingan (王金安)

Controversy

Following the questionable landings of both Shenzhou 2 and |accessdate=June 9|accessyear=2008]

Upgrades

The Chinese space officials have said that the Long March 2F rocket featured a "fire security system" on the escape tower. Speculation on what this means ranges from better fail-safes to stop accidental firings, to the addition of a fire extinguisher. The "Wen Wei Po" newspaper have reported that the rocket appeared the same as that used for "Shenzhou 5" except that a "transition segment" was visible at the top of the "Shenzhou 6" stack, attached to one end of the orbital module.

China Aerospace Science and Technology, the major manufacturer of both the Shenzhou spacecraft and the Long March rocket have said that although the flight featured a second astronaut and was much longer than "Shenzhou 5", the rocket and spacecraft did not weigh much more due to optimisation of its systems. [cite news|url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-01/21/content_410892.htm|title=Space mission set: two to orbit in Shenzhou-VI|date=2005-01-21|publisher=China Daily|accessdate=2006-09-17] Only 200 kg (about 440 lb) more was needed for the second astronaut. [cite news|url=http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/250050/china_prepares_for_shenzhou_vi_space_flight_13_october_/|title=China Prepares for Shenzhou VI Space Flight 13 October - Agency|date=2005-09-24|publisher=Zhongguo Tongxun She|accessdate=2006-09-17] Among the amenities on board for the crew was hot food, sleeping bags and essential sanitary equipment. The sleeping bag was hooked to a wall of the orbital module and the crew had alternating sleep periods. [cite news|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-10/12/content_3609268.htm|title=How do astronauts eat, sleep in spaceship?|date=2005-10-12|publisher=Xinhua News Agency|accessdate=2006-09-17] The shock absorbers in the crew seats were redesigned so as to provide more safety to the crew in case the braking rockets fail to fire just before touchdown. The flight telemetry recorder on the spacecraft had its memory increased to about 1 gigabyte, and the read/write speed was now 10 times as fast as the computers carried on previous flights. [cite news|url=http://english.people.com.cn/200510/12/eng20051012_213999.html|title=The look of Shenzhou-VI manned spaceship|date=2005-10-13|publisher=People's Daily|accessdate=2006-09-17] It was also about half the size of that carried on "Shenzhou 5". Overall, 95% of the Shenzhou 6 space capsule is indigenously designed/produced in China, the highest rate in comparison to the previous ones.

The menu included pineapple-filled mooncakes, green vegetables, braised bamboo shoots, rice, and bean congee. In total there was 40 kg (about 88 lb) of food on board. [cite news|url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/12/content_484381.htm|title=Fly me to the mooncakes|date=2005-10-12|publisher=Reuters|accessdate=2006-09-17] A somewhat strange aspect of the mission reported in the Chinese press was the fixation on the purity of drinking water for the astronauts, where it was claimed that their water reportedly comes from a mine 1.7 km (1.1 miles) underground and was disinfected with an electrolytic silver solution. It has thus been said by the press that they are drinking the "purest water in China". [cite news|url=http://english.people.com.cn/200510/12/eng20051012_213941.html|title=Astronauts aboard Shenzhou-6 drink "purest" water from deep underground|date=2005-10-12|publisher=Xinhua News Agency|accessdate=2006-09-17] Since it is commonly known that water produced by a process of reverse osmosis and deionization would produce water of a far higher purity than any naturally found underground, it is possible that the use of water specifically from one of China's deepest mines may have been used to carry a symbolic meaning to the mission.

It had been reported that, on "Shenzhou 5", astronaut Yang Liwei suffered from a "minor heartache" after his launch. It is thought that this refers to space adaptation syndrome experienced by about one third of astronauts during the first few days of a spaceflight. The "People's Daily" said that the interior design of the spacecraft has been changed to hopefully lessen the likelihood of nausea and other symptoms.

Experiments

It was announced in July 2005 that "Shenzhou 6" would carry one experiment involving the sperm of pigs from Rongchang County, Chongqing. [cite news|url=http://indcoup.blogspot.com/2005/07/pigs-in-space.html|title=China Space Flight to Test Cosmic Radiation on Pig Sperm|date=2005-07-18|publisher=Deutsche Presse-Agentur|accessdate=2006-09-17] But on October 11 it was revealed by Liu Luxiang, director of the Centre for Space Breeding at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, that there were no plans for animal or plant seeds on the flight. He said the focus of "Shenzhou 6" was the physical reactions of the crew to the space environment. [cite news|url=http://english.people.com.cn/200510/11/eng20051011_213771.html|title=Official: Shenzhou VI not to carry plant seeds|date=2005-10-11|publisher=China Daily|accessdate=2006-09-17] This was seemingly contradicted a year and a half after the flight when sweet potatoes started being sold for Valentine's Day that had been grown from seeds reportedly taken on the flight. [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6353403.stm|title=Lift-off for Chinese space potato|date=2007-02-12|accessdate=2007-02-13]

Morris Jones who writes for SpaceDaily.com has speculated that the lack of any other announced experiments suggested that the mission could be oriented more toward the military. The crew could have operated a large surveillance film camera, supplementing the unmanned recoverable satellite program.

pace Toilet Mystery

Whilst in space the two taikonauts tested a new piece of Chinese Space Technology - an 'excrement collecting facility' or space toilet. The previous manned mission , Shenzhou 5, did not have this facility. [cite news|url=http://www.sinodefence.com/space/project/shenzhou6.asp|title=ShenZhou 6 Human Spaceflight Mission|accessdate=2008-10-05] [cite news|url=http://www.physorg.com/news6792.html|title=Weighing Up Shenzhou 6|accessdate=2008-10-05] Curiously, news reports during the next manned Chinese mission, Shenzhou 7, said that Shenzhou 7 was the first Chinese manned mission to have a space toilet. [cite news|url=http://www.cctv.com/english/20080926/100006.shtml|title=Flavors, toilet improve Chinese taikonauts´ space life|accessdate=2008-10-05] [cite news|url=http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/technology/5042050/chinas-astronauts-prepare-spacewalk/|title=China's astronauts prepare for spacewalk|accessdate=2008-10-05]

Tracking

There are 20 land-based tracking stations in the Chinese space telemetry network. These are supplemented by four "Yuanwang"-series tracking ships. The Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center global map showed their positions to be: [cite news|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-10/12/content_3607832.htm|title=Beijing Aerospace Command, Control Center|date=2005-10-12|publisher=Xinhua News Agency|accessdate=2006-09-17]
*"Yuanwang 1" in the Yellow Sea
*"Yuanwang 2" about 1500 km (about 900 statute miles) southwest of French Polynesia
*"Yuanwang 3" off the Namibian coast
*"Yuanwang 4" off the coast of Western Australia in the Indian Ocean

Only one other land-based tracking station is outside China — at Swakopmund in Namibia.

Shortly after the "Shenzhou 5" flight in 2003, the Pacific nation of Kiribati established diplomatic ties with the Republic of China (Taiwan), leading the People's Republic of China (PRC) to cut off diplomatic ties under its One-China policy. [cite news|url=http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-12/01/content_286035.htm|title=Diplomatic dispute won't hurt space mission|publisher=China Daily|date=2003-12-01] Following this, the PRC has dismantled a tracking station that had been built on Tarawa, the capital island of Kiribati, to track spaceflights. [cite web | url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/world/china/kiribati.htm|title=South Tarawa Island, Republic of Kiribati|accessdaymonth=17 September |accessyear=2006]

International reaction

tatements from the Greater China area

* |publisher=Xinhua News Agency|accessdate=2006-09-17]
* |publisher=Xinhua News Agency|accessdate=2006-09-17]
*|publisher=Xinhua News Agency|accessdate=2006-09-17]

Foreign countries and international organizations

*AUS - Foreign Minister Alexander Downer stated that "Australia warmly welcomes the success of China's mission into space".
*BGR - President Georgi Parvanov sent a letter to Hu Jintao congratulating the PRC on the "remarkable achievements in peaceful exploitation of the outer space". [cite news|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-10/18/content_3640464.htm|title=Bulgaria congratulates China on successful manned space mission|date=2005-10-18|publisher=Xinhua News Agency|accessdate=2006-09-17]
*CMR - Ndoumba Eloungou Nestor, secretary of Cameroon's External Relations Ministry said the launch encouraged a vast number of developing countries. [cite news|url=http://english.people.com.cn/200510/13/eng20051013_214166.html|title=Various countries congratulate China on 2nd manned space mission|date=2005-10-13|publisher=Xinhua News Agency|accessdate=2006-09-17]
*FRA - President Jacques Chirac congratulated the successful return of the spacecraft. [cite news|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-10/17/content_3624324.htm|title=Chirac congratulates China on spaceship return|date=2005-10-13|publisher=China Radio International|accessdate=2006-09-17]
*JPN - Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda hoped the crew would have a safe return and said development in China of manned spacecraft was not a "military threat". [cite news|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-10/12/content_3610439.htm|title=Japan hails China's successful launch of manned Shenzhou-6|date=2005-10-12|publisher=Xinhua News Agency|accessdate=2006-09-17]
*RUS - Nikolai Moiseyev, deputy head of the Russian Federal Space Agency said "another power has joined the space club" and that Russia looked "forward to further cooperation with them in all areas". [cite news|url=http://www.spacedaily.com/2005/051012070219.d8c2dzqk.html|title=Russia hails China space launch|date=2005-10-12|publisher=Agence France-Presse|accessdate=2006-09-17]
*SIN - President S.R. Nathan sent a congratulatory letter to President Hu Jintao saying it was a proud moment for all Chinese. [cite news|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-10/12/content_3609569.htm|title=Singapore hails China's successful launch of spacecraft|date=2005-10-12|publisher=Xinhua News Agency|accessdate=2006-09-17]
*UGA - Minister of State for Information Nsaba Buturo said the launch will stop the domination of outer space by a few countries in the world. [cite news|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-10/13/content_3613110.htm|title=Uganda welcomes China's new start of access to space|date=2005-10-12|publisher=Xinhua News Agency|accessdate=2006-09-17]
*|publisher=United Nations|accessdate=2006-09-17]
*USA - Deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli congratulated China on the launch of its second manned spacecraft, and applauded its success as only the third nation with this capability. [cite news|url=http://www.spacedaily.com/2005/051012202502.l5dk6tvx.html|title=US hails China's second manned space mission|date=2005-10-12|publisher=Agence France-Presse|accessdate=2006-09-17]
**NASA - Administrator Michael Griffin congratulated China on its launch and wished them a safe journey. [cite news|url=http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2005/oct/HQ_05343_Griffin_China_statement.html|title=NASA Administrator Marks China's Second Human Space Flight|date=2005-10-12|publisher=NASA|accessdate=2006-09-17]
*European Space Agency - European astronaut Frank De Winne wished the crew a smooth journey. He commented on the fact that Europe had yet to create its own independent manned spacecraft. [cite news|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-10/12/content_3608178.htm|title=European astronaut wishes China success in 2nd manned space mission |date=2005-10-12|publisher=Xinhua News Agency|accessdate=2006-09-17]

ee also

* Space program of China

References

*cite news|first=Morris|last=Jones|url=http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-05x.html|title=Media Rollout For "Shenzhou 6"|publisher=SpaceDaily|date=March 7, 2005
*cite news|first=Morris|last=Jones|url=http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-05zzzzzzzr.html|title=Media Weighing Up "Shenzhou 6"|publisher=SpaceDaily|date=September 27, 2005
*cite news|url=http://spacedaily.com/news/china-05zzzzzzzzd.html|title="Shenzhou 6" Mission In Final Preparation For Possible Launch On October 13|publisher=SpaceDaily.com|date=6 October 2005
*cite news|url=http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/2238/2005-10-11/[e-mail]|title=Yang Liwei Says "Shenzhou 6" Astronauts Capable of New Space Mission|publisher=Xinhua News Agency|date=11 October 2005

External links

wikinewshas|news about this article
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* [http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2005s6/ Xinhua News Agency coverage]
* [http://www.spacedaily.com/dragonspace.html Dragon Space - China's civilian, military and manned space programs]
* [http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/china/events/shenzhou6/index.htm "Shenzhou 6" - China's Second Manned Space Mission]
* [http://www.spacefacts.de/mission/english/shenzhou_6.htm Spacefacts data about "Shenzhou 6"]
* [http://xmwb.news365.com.cn/dsy/t20050219_401477.htm "Shenzhou 6" training photographs] . From "Xinmin Evening News" (in Chinese)
* [http://english.chinamil.com.cn/site2/news-channels/2005-05/26/content_214230.htm "Getting ready for space flight tomorrow—"Heroic astronaut team" makes preparations for manned spaceflight"] , "PLA Daily". Accessed 24 July 2005
* [http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/051011_shenzhou_launchcenter.html "Satellite Spots China’s Manned Rocket"] , [http://www.space.com Space.com] article about IKONOS satellite image of Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center