The following are a group of key figures about China's second manned spacecraft Shenzhou VI:
2 -- The spacecraft carries two astronauts;
8 -- The spacecraft is over eight meters long and weighs about eight tons;
9 -- The orbit module has a space of nine cubic meters where the astronauts can turn around and operate comfortably;
13 -- The spacecraft has 13 subsystems, including the systems controlling temperature, power supply, data processing, communications, life protection, return and landing, and emergency reaction;
21 -- The temperature inside the spacecraft is maintained at 21degrees Celsius, comfortable for spacesuited astronauts, although outside temperature is 100 degrees Celsius on the side exposed to the sun and minus 100 degrees Celsius on the side in the shade;
60 -- The noise inside the spaceship is kept at 60 decibels, because research shows absolute quietness has negative impact but a reasonable level of noise will be fine;
90 -- It takes the spaceship 90 minuets to orbit the earth once, and it will fly about 680,000 km per day;
52 -- The spaceship has 52 engines, 28 in propulsion module, of which four powerful engines are to be used to change and maintain the orbit and brake in re-entry; Eight engines are in the re-entry vehicle to stabilize itself in returning through atmosphere and precise landing, and 16 in the orbital module to power it staying in the orbit for six months.
235 -- The spacecraft uses 235 seal rings to seal off 20 bigger outlets and 16 minor ones in the re-entry vehicle and 20 outlets for cable connections in the orbital module.
300 -- The cables onboard total 300 kg in weight and 30 km in length;
343 -- The spaceship is 343 km away from the Earth, compared with 400 km of the international space station;
600 -- The spaceship has about 600 equipment units;
100,000 -- The spaceship has 100,000 spare parts and components which are made by thousands of factories.
(Xinhua News Agency October 12, 2005)
