William Atkins
Thursday, 25 September 2008 19:58
Science -
Space
Page 1 of 2
China announced on Thursday, September 25, 2008, that its third manned spacecraft was launched at 9:10 p.m. local time from its Jiuguan Satellite Launch Center.
ChinaDaily.com made the announcement at 9:19 local time through its article “
Shenzhou VII blasts off from Jiuquan.”
The three-person crew inside the
Shenzhou VII spacecraft was lifted off its launch pad with a Long March II-F (CZ-2F) rocket in the northwestern region of Gansu Province.
The three Chinese astronauts (or, taikonauts) on the mission are Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming, and Jing Haipeng. This is the first time that three taikonauts have been aboard one spacecraft while orbiting the Earth.
Zhai Zhigang is the commander of the mission. He will also conduct the spacewalk.
They are scheduled to orbit for three to five days before returning to Earth.
During the flight, Zhigang will perform an approximately 30-minute spacewalk at their circular orbit of 206 miles (343 kilometers) above the surface of the Earth.
This first-time accomplishment for China will make it the third country to perform a extravehicular activity (EVA) in space.
The former Soviet Union (Russia) and the United States have already performed EVAs with its cosmonauts and astronauts, respectively.
Find further information on the Shenzhou VII mission on page two.
