Shenzhou 4

Shenzhou 4 (Chinese: 神舟四号) – launched on December 29, 2002 – was the fourth uncrewed launch of the Chinese Shenzhou spacecraft. Two dummy astronauts were used to test the life support systems (a live astronaut was not used until Shenzhou 5 on October 15, 2003). The spacecraft carried 100 peony seeds to investigate the effect of weightlessness on plants grown from them. The 52 experiments onboard investigated areas in physics, biology, medicine, earth observation, material science, and astronomy.

Shenzhou 4

Shenzhou 4 (Chinese: 神舟四号) – launched on December 29, 2002 – was the fourth uncrewed launch of the Chinese Shenzhou spacecraft. Two dummy astronauts were used to test the life support systems (a live astronaut was not used until Shenzhou 5 on October 15, 2003). The spacecraft carried 100 peony seeds to investigate the effect of weightlessness on plants grown from them. The 52 experiments onboard investigated areas in physics, biology, medicine, earth observation, material science, and astronomy.