At T- 8 hours, which was 5 p.m. Beijing Time on the 9th, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) delivered the biological experiments to the spacecraft. The researchers placed three biological cultivation containers into a temperature controlled box, which was then wrapped in a cotton blanket and delivered to the launch pad for installation in the Descent Module.

T-40 minutes -- the rotating structure of the launch pad swung open 180 degrees and exposed the white CZ-2F rocket. More than a hundred floodlights illuminated the rocket, with China's national flag clearly visible on the payload fairing.

At the JSLC launch control center more than a hundred personnel were on duty. CAPCOM Guo Baoxin was seated to the left of the launch director Xu Kejun, who watched the readouts on the monitors. At the front of the control center were six large display screens which showed data from various systems on CZ-2F and Shenzhou-2, and the latest meteorological information.

Meanwhile optical and radar tracking facilities and range safety at 28 different locations were synchronizing their activities.

The air temperature dropped to a frigid minus 13 deg Celsius at the new launch center. The launch of CZ-2F was to be the first low-temperature launch at JSLC. As such the launch team had to implement over 100 cold-weather operational procedures to maintain the temperature of the rocket and launch equipment.

Heaters were placed inside the launcher and the Shenzhou spacecraft to keep it from freezing, while a specially-built automatic temperature control system kept the rocket propellant at the appropriate temperature range. Meanwhile, the military branch supplied ground crews with special winter clothing and helmets.

With Director of the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) Jin Zhuanglong at the lead, the launch team made the final inspection of the launcher.

At T-30 minutes, a green flare was fired into the sky; signaling the last half an hour in the countdown. A speaker system then broadcasted: "Close all hatches. All personnel evacuates the launch pad."

Security and emergency vehicles departed the pad area immediately. The launch was near. The T-5 minutes signal sounded and the launch control system entered the automatic ignition sequence.

"1 minute!" The countdown entered the final minute. The launch gantry and umbilical cords retracted. The launch center fell to silence.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1 -- Ignition! Liftoff!"

Suddenly a thunderous roar broke the silence as the rocket expelled orange-red flames, which turned water in the flame trench into vapor pushing vapor clouds out several hundred meters. CZ-2F lofted away from the snow covered launch center at the edge of the Gobi Desert to roar into the night sky.

At T+12 seconds the rocket made a turn to the south east as the rocket headed out over the Pacific Ocean. A large display screen at JSLC showed a graph with a red line, which represented the actual trajectory of CZ-2F, overlapping a green line, which was the predicted flight trajectory.

The same information appeared at BACCC. Here one of the large display screens carried a realtime video transmission of the launch. Other screens showed a myriad of numbers returned from tracking stations and the Yuanwang tracking fleet. One of the screens displayed the mission status in a 3-D animation, making the interpretation of the flight progress much easier.

A series of announcements were heard over the speaker: "Optical tracking nominal!", "Radar tracking nominal!", "Remote telemetry nominal!", "Escape tower separation!", "Strap-on boosters separation!", "First stage separation!", "Payload fairing separation!", "Second stage shutdown!"

The CZ-2F escape tower, four strap-on boosters and the first stage dropped out of the sky to impact downrange in Alxa Youqi, Alxa Zuoqi and Otog Qi in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region respectively while the payload fairing impacted in the Yulin district in the neighboring Shaanxi Province.

At T+9 min. 43 sec. remote telemetry from the Qingdao tracking station indicated that SZ-2 has successfully separated from the launcher.

At this point BACCC issued its first command to Shenzhou-2 enabling the spacecraft to enter a predetermined orbit.

Shortly after telemetry from the Yuanwang-1 tracking ship showed that SZ-2 was in orbit at a little more than 10 minutes after launch. When the news was announced, JSLC launch control center personnel and ground crews made a round of applause and hugged each others. Some shed a few tears of joy. Celebrations at the Spaceport then kicked off with a fireworks display.

In the first hours after launch, SZ-2 was in an elliptical orbit of 196.8 x 336.0 km and inclined at 42.6 deg to the Equator with an orbital period of 89.8 minutes. After nearly two days in space, SZ-2's orbit has become more circularized with an orbit of 327.7 x 334.1 km with the same inclination and an orbital period of 91.1 minutes.

BACCC leads the overall commanding of the mission, with continuous tracking and control support from the Xi'an Satellite Control Center (XSCC) in the central Shaanxi Province and the fleet of four Yuanwang tracking vessels at sea.

China Opens 21st Century With Shenzhou-2 Launch

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DRAGON SPACE

China Opens 21st Century With Shenzhou-2 Launch
by Wei Long
Beijing - Jan. 12, 2001
China has kicked off the new century with the unmanned launch of Shenzhou-2 early Wednesday morning (Jan. 10). The symbolic and successful launch occurred at 1am Beijing Time (Jan. 9 17:00 UTC) for a mission that is expected to last seven days.

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