Also known as the Long March 2F or LM-2F, this is the rocket that launched China's first human mission into space on October 15, 2003. The mission and the spacecraft were known as Shenzhou 5. Yang Liwei orbited the Earth 14 times and landed about 21.5 hours after launch.
An updated version of the Long March 2F rocket was also used to launch China's second human mission, named Shenzhou 6, on October 12, 2005. The Shenzhou 6 spacecraft, carrying Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng, lasted almost five days.
China's next human mission, Shenzhou 7, is planned to launch between June and October of 2007. The plan is to have three people aboard.
The Long March 2F rocket is part of the Long March family of rockets, and more specifically, part of the Long March 2 family. The Long March 2F rocket has four strap-on boosters ("stage 0") which use nitrogen tetroxide and UDMH for propellant. The core state (stage 1) uses the same propellant combination. The final stage (stage 2) uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.
For more information:
- http://tinyurl.com/lfzes
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_March_rocket
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhou_spacecraft
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_program_of_China#Launch_vehicles
Author(s): Troy McCLuhan (unknown date prior to 2007 December 31)
