On January 5, 2003 (the third day of the first lunar month), the Shenzhou IV spacecraft successfully returned. At 19:16 on January 5, 2003, the Shenzhou-4 spacecraft made an accurate landing in the central region of Inner Mongolia after completing the scheduled space science and technology test mission.
So far, the fourth flight test of China's manned space project has been a complete success. On the evening of the 5th, when the "Shenzhou" IV spacecraft orbited the earth for 107 laps and flew over the waters of the South Atlantic, the "Yuanwang-3" aerial survey ship on standby there issued a return order to it. The spacecraft then establishes a return attitude, the return capsule separates from the orbital module, brakes the engine ignition, and begins to return from space to the surface of the Earth. After the spacecraft entered the atmosphere 80 kilometers from the ground, it flew at a high speed of about 8 kilometers per second, violently rubbed with the atmosphere, and returned to the surface of the capsule to form a plasma layer, forming an electromagnetic shield, and temporarily disconnected from the ground. The spacecraft had just flown out of the "black barrier area", and the landing station of the Xi'an Satellite Measurement and Control Center, which was responsible for the spacecraft's recovery task, found the target in time. After that, according to the predetermined procedure, the spacecraft landed smoothly in the field area of the spacecraft landing site in central Inner Mongolia, and search and rescue personnel recovered the spacecraft's return capsule. The Shenzhou IV spacecraft was launched in the early morning of December 30, 2002 at the Jiuquan Manned Aerial Launch Site, and flew in space for 6,018 hours and orbited the earth 108 times as scheduled. The return capsule is transported back to Beijing, where researchers conduct technical analysis and scientific research on the spacecraft and test projects. The spacecraft's orbital module continues to operate in orbit and conduct relevant space science and application tests.
The successful launch and return of the "Shenzhou" No. 4 spacecraft shows that China's manned spaceflight engineering technology is becoming more and more mature, laying a solid foundation for the final realization of manned flight.