Diagram of Shenzhou 8 (right) docked with Tiangong-1 (left)
Mission type
Test flight
COSPAR ID
2011-063A
SATCAT no.
37859
Mission duration
18 days
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type
Shenzhou
Start of mission
Launch date
31 October 2011, 21:58:10.430 UTC
Rocket
Long March 2F
Launch site
Jiuquan, LA-4/SLS-1
Contractor
China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT)
End of mission
Landing date
17 November 2011, 11:32 UTC
Landing site
Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia
Orbital parameters
Reference system
Geocentric orbit
Regime
Low Earth orbit
Inclination
51.37°
Docking with Tiangong-1
Docking date
2 November 2011, 17:28 UTC
Docking with Tiangong-1
Docking date
14 November 2011, 12:07 UTC
Undocking date
16 November 2011, 10:30 UTC
Time docked
1 day, 22 hours, 23 minutes
Shenzhou program
← Shenzhou 7
Shenzhou 9 →
Shenzhou 8
Chinese
神舟八号
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin
Shénzhōu Bāhào
Gwoyeu Romatzyh
Shernjou bahaw
Wade–Giles
Shenchao pahao
IPA
[ʂə̌nʈʂóʊ páxâʊ]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization
Shenjou bahau
Jyutping
San4zau1 baat3hou6
IPA
[sɐ̏ntsɐ̄upāːthɐ̀u]
Shenzhou 8 (Chinese: 神舟八号) was an uncrewed flight of China's Shenzhou program,[1] launched on 31 October 2011 UTC, or 1 November 2011 in China, by a Long March 2F rocket which lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.[2]
The Shenzhou 8 spacecraft was automatically docked with the Tiangong-1 space module (launched on 29 September 2011) on 3 November 2011 and again on 14 November 2011.[3] This uncrewed docking – China's first – was followed in 2012 with the crewed Shenzhou 9 mission, which performed a crewed docking (also China's first) with the Tiangong-1 module.[1][4] Only the Soviet Union (Russia), Japan[5] and the European Space Agency (ESA) had achieved automatic rendezvous and docking prior to China's accomplishment.
^ abDavid, Leonard (7 March 2011). "China Details Ambitious Space Station Goals". Space.com. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
^Cite error: The named reference nsf20111031 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Wall, Mike (2 November 2011). "China Succeeds in First Space Docking by 2 Spaceships". Space.com. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
^Clark, Stephen (12 May 2011). "Docking, extended space missions up next for China". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
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