Sunday, September 28, 2008

China craft set for Earth return


China's Shenzhou VII space capsule is preparing to head back to Earth after a successful mission orbiting the planet.
(Source:Google News)


The three-man crew conducted experiments said to be crucial to the country's space programme. The highlight of the trip was a space walk - the first in the country's history.
During the brief operation, broadcast live on national television, fighter pilot Zhai Zhigang emerged from the capsule to wave a Chinese flag.
Mr Zhai, 42, stayed outside the capsule for 15 minutes while his two fellow astronauts stayed in the spacecraft.

Mr Zhai wore a Chinese-made spacesuit thought to have cost between £5m and £20m ($10m-$40m) for the space walk.

The "yuhangyuan" (astronaut) was tethered to the capsule with an umbilical cable.
President Hu Jintao spoke to the astronauts at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center for the Shenzhou-VII mission, state news agency Xinhua reported.
"Your country and your fellow citizens thank you for your devotion to the space programme," he told them.
The Shenzhou VII capsule soared into orbit on a Long March II-F rocket from Jiuquan spaceport in north-west China on 25 September.
China became only the third nation after the United States and Russia to independently put a man in space when Yang Liwei, another fighter pilot, went into orbit on the Shenzhou V mission in October 2003.
Two years later, Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng completed a five-day flight on Shenzhou VI.

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