Shenzhou 7 (SZ-7)

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  33386 / 08047A Launch date - time  25 Sep 2008 - 13:10 UT Launch site  Jiuquan, LC1 Launch vehicle  CZ-2F Mass (kg)   Earth orbit on :    - Perigee / Apogee  330 x 340 km    - Inclination  42.42°    - Period   min Landing date - time  28 Sep 2008 - 09:37:40 UT Landing location  42,278°N, 111,355°E (Inner Mongolia) Flight Duration (d:hr:min)  2d 20h 28m Nbr orbits  45

Crew:

Backup Crew Nr. Name Job 1  Chen, Quan  Commander 2  Fei, Junlong  Operator 3  Nie, Haisheng  Operator

Crew and backup-crew.

Flight details:

• The Shenzhou 7 spaceship was launched on Sep 25, 2008. The crew were Zhai Zhigang, commander ("zhilingzhang"), Liu Boming, orbital module astronaut ("guidaocang hangtianyuan") and Jing Haipeng, descent module monitor astronaut ("fanhuicang zhishou hangtianyuan" ).
• They were launched into a 200 x 330 km x 42.4 deg orbit by a CZ-2F rocket. At 2005 UTC the orbit was raised to 330 x 336 km. The Shenzhou 7 orbital module will be used as an airlock for China's first spacewalk.
• On Sep 27, 2008 China accomplished its first spacewalk. The SZ-7 orbital module (guidaocang, GC) was depressurized by about 0830 UTC. The hatch was opened at 0838 UTC with a residual pressure of 20 mbar. Zhai Zhigang, wearing a Chinese-made Feitian spacesuit, emerged at 0843 UTC and was fully outside by 0844 UTC. Meanwhile, Liu Boming, wearing a Russian suit, Orlan-M No. 42, remained partially inside the GC. He made a SEVA (Stand-Up EVA, i.e. partially emerging - a term from Gemini days) at 0848 for about 2 minutes and handed Zhai a Chinese flag to wave. Zhai translated along the GC retrieved a materials sample tray mounted on the module exterior, and returned to the hatch area at 0854 UTC. He went inside at 0858 UTC. The hatch was closed at 0859-0900 UTC and the GC was repressurized sometime around 0915 UTC, and the pressure was back up to 400 mbar by 0926 UTC. The descent module (fanhuicang, FC) stayed pressurized throughout, and the third crewmember, Jing Haipen, stayed there with no spacesuit on.
• Time in depressurized operations was around 45 min for Zhai and Liu; hatch open/close time was 22 min; time outside was 14 min for Zhai only.
  
  
  
  
• A 40 kg subsatellite was ejected from the nose of the SZ7 orbital module at 1127 UTC on Sep 27, 2008. It is probably object designated 2008-47G by the US (47C-F seem to be the separation motor covers from the second stage, based on their orbital parameters). On Sep 28 it was in a 329 x 338 km orbit.
• On Sep 28, the GC orbital module was ejected at 0848 UTC, and at about 0851:16 UTC the propulsion module (tuijincang, TC) ignited for the deorbit burn over the South Atlantic at 7.5N 24.1W, at 330 km altitude. The burn was completed at about 0853:18 UTC (based on the graphics on Chinese TV coverage) over 13.6N 19.3W. The delta-V was about 115 m/s, similar to Soyuz, and the post-burn orbit was -50 x 330 km x 42.4 deg. At 0913 UTC the FC and the TC separated as reentry began, about 150 km over western Tibet. The TC probably burnt up at around 0918 UTC over the Gobi desert, and the FC deployed its main parachute at 0924 UTC, with landing at 0937:40 UTC at 42.278N 111.355E in the Chinese province of Nei Monggol (Inner Mongolia), between Hohhot and Erenhot.
• The GC remains in a 329 x 336 km x 42.4 deg orbit, with designation 2008-47H.

Astrophilately covers:

Launch cancel - Credit: #411

Landing cancel - Credit: #411

Launch cancel - Credit: #411