China’s third unmanned(不载人的) spacecraft went into orbit Monday night - paving(铺)
The spacecraft, Shenzhou III(神州三号), was launched into space at 10:15 pm atop(在...顶上) a powerful new type of rocket, Long March 2F(长城二号).
Space experts said the unmanned test mission(使命) paves the way for China to be the third nation in history to launch(发射) astronauts into space, behind Russia - which was the first - and the US.
Yesterday’s launch followed the second test flight of an unmanned spacecraft 14 months ago. The country’s first unmanned spaceflight took place in November 1999.
At around 10:25 pm, Shenzhou III detached(分离) itself from the launch vehicle(发射器-rocket). A technician then clicked his computer mouse to send a command(指令) to the spacecraft, immediately guiding it to fly to its pre-set orbit(预定轨道).
The spaceship is expected to circle the earth once every 90 minutes. It will fly in space for a couple of days before landing. e way for manned(载人的) space flights.