Posted: Sat, Jan 4, 2003, 5:21 PM ET (2221 GMT)
China's Shenzhou 4 spacecraft, launched nearly a week ago, is expected to land early Sunday, according to Chinese media and other reports. Chinese media reported Friday and Saturday that the spacecraft, launched December 29, will land "at dusk" Sunday in central Inner Mongolia. No time for the landing was provided by the Chinese reports, but Swedish spacecraft expert Sven Grahn has estimated the landing to take place around 6:04 am EST (1104 GMT). If correct, the landing would be just a few hours short of one week after the spacecraft lifted off atop a Long March 2F booster from the Jiuquan Satellite Launching Center. The previous two Shenzhou test flights, in January 2001 and March 2002, each lasted about one week.
