China launches Shenzhou VII for first spacewalk mission

William Atkins
Thursday, 25 September 2008 18:58

Science - Space

Besides the spacewalk, the three taikonauts are expected to release a small monitoring satellite during Zhignang's spacewalk.

Further information about the Shenzhou VII spacecraft is found on the ChinaDaily.com website “Facts and Figures: Shenzhou VII spacecraft.”

In Chinese, Shenzhou means “Divine Vessel” or "Devine Craft."

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) coordinates the national space program of China.

The Shenzhou program, originally called Project 921-1, placed the first Chinese astronaut into orbit on October 15, 2003.

Since then a second flight occurred on October 12, 2005.

All flights have launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, with the command center for the three missions being at the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center.