China' s Shenzhou IV spacecraft touched down successfully in the central part of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 19:16, January 5, 2003.
The fourth unmanned test flight of China' s ongoing manned space program thus concluded with satisfactory results. During its six-day-and-18-hour space trip, the Shenzhou IV orbited the earth 107 times. It has completed all the experimental tasks prearranged. The subsequent findings lay a solid foundation for achieving the program' s ultimate goal of launching manned flights.
The successful recovery of the re-entry module by Xi' an Satellite Monitoring Center shows that the country has entered a new stage in the scientific study and exploitation of the outer space.
