Word: orbitals
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AEROSPACE Still Out Of Orbit...
...countdown has begun. this fall, china will send a Long March 2F rocket hurtling into space from a remote launch facility near the Gobi Desert. The payload: Shenzhou, or "Divine Vessel," a capsule carrying China's first astronauts. The mission: enter a low Earth orbit for up to a week, then parachute back to a landing zone on the Mongolian steppe. The goal: elevate China into the exclusive ranks of spacefaring nations...
...past the government announced test launches of Shenzhou spacecraft only after they returned, saving itself the embarrassment of having to explain failures. China's satellite-launch program suffered a string of disastrous explosions and aborted launches in the mid-1990s. Although all four unmanned Shenzhou craft have returned from orbit since the first test in 1999, not all were mission-accomplished. The Shenzhou II is widely believed to have suffered damage from a hard landing during a blizzard...
...week. Boosters on Capital Hill, in the aerospace industry and even inside the astronaut corps point out the capsule has is a more versatile design: it is modular and can be outfitted to the specific needs of any mission. And unlike the shuttle, it can venture beyond low Earth orbit, which means the U.S. could once again send astronauts to the moon...
...station, but now might have to serve as a bridge between the shuttle and some next-generation spacecraft based on technology that might not emerge for decades. NASA could have to live with its choice for some time, and that gives the capsule and its ability to leave Earth orbit a big boost. "There's clearly a lot of interest in the capsule design,? said Michael Kostelnick, NASA's number two space-flight official. ?When you look at whether we should develop a winged spacecraft or a capsule, the opportunity to do other things beside fly in low Earth orbit...