Shenzhou IX full-system drill a success

JIUQUAN, Gansu - The Shenzhou IX manned spacecraft mission successfully completed its first full-system drill on Tuesday afternoon, and everything went well, an unidentified official with the mission said.

A still image of Shenzhou IX manned sapcecraft in a drill on Tuesday afternoon. [Photo/cntv.cn]

The drill began at 10:07 am Beijing Time, when the mission entered 4:30 countdown. All systems relevant to the mission, including astronauts, spacecraft, rocket, launch center and the surveillance, control and communication systems, were well-organized and coordinated with each other in good order, according to Xinhua's eyewitness at the Command Hall of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

"The four-and-a-half-hour drill fully tested the conditions of all systems," said the official. "Organization and command are unhindered, technology conditions and equipment are working normally and all the conditions can meet the requirements for the real launch."

As the closest event to the real mission, the drill was the first comprehensive maneuver ahead of the launch, with most systems taking part in it.

The spacecraft will be launched sometime in mid-June to perform the first manned space docking mission with the orbiting Tiangong-1 space lab module.

The official said all systems relevant to the space docking mission have arrived at the launch center, where experts have finished various activities to check the conditions of equipment and maintain the physical conditions of astronauts.