China’s spacewalk mission – a remarkable success.

29Sep08

Last Thursday evening, the Chinese Shenzhou-VII spacecraft and its anxious passengers were blasted off the face of the Earth.  Last night they triumphantly returned having sent one of their taikonauts into orbit, becoming only the third country in the world to master a spacewalk.

 

Millions around the world watched the live broadcast with momentous awe and admiration as Zhai Zhigang emerged from the module wearing a US$4.4 million Chinese-made extravehicular activity (EVA) space suit, tethered to the craft by two safety wires.  He proceeded to wave a small Chinese flag while floating in the vast nothingness of space – a moment of pure symbolism marking a milestone in the nation’s space exploration.

 

The crew of the Shenzhou-VII spacecraft safely touched down by parachute on the Inner Mongolia region, where they were greeted as heroes having victoriously carried out a historical landmark achievement.   Their success has been greeted with substantial enthusiasm across the world.

 

So what comes next for the conquering nation?  Well, China is adamant that the developments of its space flight technologies are solely for the peaceful exploration and use of outer space.  By all means further significant accomplishments are certainly desired.  China‘s manned space program spokesman, Wang Zhaoyao, announced plans to set up a simple space lab in 2011 and a manned space station by 2020.

 

It has been previously reported in Nature that China does not yet have any official plans to place a man on the moon.  However, recent developments show that this may not be the case with the prospect of a moon landing certainly not residing out of their sights, Zhaoyao stating that “The moon landing is an extremely challenging and sophisticated task, and it is also a strategically important technological field. It is necessary for China to achieve something in this field.”

 

The success of this space mission has undoubtedly revealed China to be a serious contender in cosmic exploration.  A space race is certainly underway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo credit: Xinhua/Associated Press

 

An edited version of this article was posted on the Nature news blog, which can be viewed here.

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Tags: Astronaut, Astronomy, China, Extravehicular Activity, Inner Mongolia, Shenzhou-7, Shenzhou-VII, Space, Space Exploration, Space Race, Spacewalk