Space Cover #405: Shenzhou 2Shenzhou space program was, and still is, the major Chinese space program developed by People's Republic of China to put a man in space. It began in 1999 and reached its first goal in 2003 when Yang Liwei, the first taikonuat, orbited Earth. Later, Shenzhou program saw the first taikonaut female in orbit and, first docking to Tiangong space laboratory.
So, in some way, Shenzhou space program can be compared to Apollo space program. And this comparison no need to be analysed only in major event but in space schedule plans: to assure an habitable spacecraft, to put an animal in orbit, to put an human in orbit...
Shenzhou 2, what was a repetition of Shenzhou 1 to check all space phases, had as one of first goals to monitor the behaviour of first animals inside the spacecraft. However, this information was not widespread to mass media in order to keep a kind of secrecy for the manned Chinese plans.
After Shenzhou space mission was completed, Xinhua (official Chinese press agency) published most of details of this Shenzhou 2 mission, among them that Shenzhou carried live animals and/or organisms to space.
For several years I tried to get a cover for Shenzhou 2 mission with some kind of pictures for these animals/organisms without luck neither any kind of reference in the text until I found this Pakistani launch space cover concerning the Karachi space tracking in which two texts read:
Inside the reentry capsule were a monkey, a dog and a rabbit in a test of the spaceship's life support systems.There were 64 different scientific payloads. Included a microgravity christallography experiment: animal species including six mice, and small aquatic and terrestrial organisms...
Expanded image of the texts.
Furthermore, I think this is the first space Pakistani cover shown in the Space Cover of the Week.