The re-entry capsule of Shenzhou-5, which carried China's first astronaut Lt. Col. Yang Liwei to and returned from the space between Oct. 15-16, was handed to the Chinese Research Institute of Space Technology Friday.
 
The capsule, which landed safely in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 6:23 a.m. Thursday, just 4.8 kilometers off the pre-set target, arrived in Beijing Friday afternoon on a special train.

After a primary inspection, experts concluded that the buffer engines of the capsule operated normally before the landing and the entire capsule remained intact.

Shenzhou-5, measuring 9.2 meters in length and weighing 7,790 kilograms, consists of the orbit, re-entry and propulsion modules.

The capsule will soon be opened and the data collected by the scientific apparatus on board will be studied.

(Xinhua News Agency October 17, 2003)