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[b]Space Cover 756: Shenzhou 1 Flown Cover[/b] With China now having flown 18 Shenzhou missions, seven of which have been to their Tiangong space station, let's take a look back at the beginning of their human space flight program! Above is a cover flown onboard the uncrewed Shenzhou 1 test flight in 1999. Shenzhou 1 was launched on November 19, 1999 UTC (November 20 in Beijing). In fourteen orbits, this flight tested eight of the thirteen subsystems that would fly on the crewed Shenzhou vehicle, landing in Mongolia the next day. Onboard were 3191 of these covers, and mine above is number 3087. I understand that the triangular postmark towards the bottom, showing the Shenzhou under a parachute is a notation that this cover was flown. Typed on a sheet enclosed in the cover is the following: [i]Beijing Notary Public Office of the People's Republic of China (99) Beijing Certificate No Jing Zheng Jing Zi 47738. According to the application of China Philatelic Corporation assigned Mr. Xiong Ling and Mrs. Qiulian Wei, another notary, to notarize the company's use of the first Chinese Spacecraft Shenzhou is the name of the spacecraft, the country's manned space project to carry the commemorative envelope. From September 9th to November 14th, 1999, under our on-site supervision, 3,191 commemorative seals were completed on the lower right corner of the envelope, combined with the notary certificate and stamped with the seal of the Beijing Notary Public Office. This commemorative envelope is numbered for No. 3087, packaged into the spacecraft and the whole process of the spacecraft being launched, recovered, and uncapped. This is to certify that the commemorative seal onboard the above-mentioned spacecraft was sealed in the China Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on September 9, 1999, and put into the return cabin of the first spacecraft Shenzhou, China's manned space project. The Shenzhou test spacecraft was placed on the carrier rocket, Long March II F, at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China at 6:30 AM on November 20, 1999. After testing, the Shenzhou test spacecraft was launched at 3:41 AM on November 21, 1999. It was recovered and landed on the central part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Development and Test Center on November 23, 1999, to open the capsule, commemorative seal of the spacecraft was intact.[/i] Additionally, the back of the cover has the following notation:
[i]Beijing Notary Public Office of the People's Republic of China (99) Beijing Certificate No Jing Zheng Jing Zi 47738. According to the application of China Philatelic Corporation assigned Mr. Xiong Ling and Mrs. Qiulian Wei, another notary, to notarize the company's use of the first Chinese Spacecraft Shenzhou is the name of the spacecraft, the country's manned space project to carry the commemorative envelope. From September 9th to November 14th, 1999, under our on-site supervision, 3,191 commemorative seals were completed on the lower right corner of the envelope, combined with the notary certificate and stamped with the seal of the Beijing Notary Public Office. This commemorative envelope is numbered for No. 3087, packaged into the spacecraft and the whole process of the spacecraft being launched, recovered, and uncapped. This is to certify that the commemorative seal onboard the above-mentioned spacecraft was sealed in the China Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on September 9, 1999, and put into the return cabin of the first spacecraft Shenzhou, China's manned space project. The Shenzhou test spacecraft was placed on the carrier rocket, Long March II F, at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China at 6:30 AM on November 20, 1999. After testing, the Shenzhou test spacecraft was launched at 3:41 AM on November 21, 1999. It was recovered and landed on the central part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Development and Test Center on November 23, 1999, to open the capsule, commemorative seal of the spacecraft was intact.[/i]
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