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BEIJING (China): Three
Chinese astronauts made a jubilant return to Earth on Sunday
after successfully completing the country's first-ever
spacewalk, an event the premier said was "a stride forward" in
China's space history.
The spacewalk was mainly aimed at testing China's mastery of
the technology involved. The sole task of mission commander
Zhai Zhigang was to retrieve a rack attached to the outside of
the orbital module. He remained outside for about 13 minutes.
"It was a glorious mission, full of challenges with a
successful end," Zhai said after the Shenzhou 7 module landed
under clear skies in the grasslands of China's northern Inner
Mongolia region. "We feel proud of the motherland."
State broadcaster CCTV showed the astronauts emerge from their
capsule, which floated gently down under a giant
red-and-white-striped parachute, and wave at cameras as they
celebrated the end of their 68-hour mission.
Zhai, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng stayed inside for about 46
minutes to adapt to Earth's gravity before crawling out of the
narrow entrance. They were declared healthy after medical
examinations inside the module.
"This mission's success is a milestone; a stride forward,"
Premier Wen Jiabao said at mission control.
Saturday's space walk, which was broadcast live and watched by
crowds gathered around outdoor television screens, further
stoked national pride one month after the close of the Beijing
Olympics.
"A small step by Zhai Zhigang in space is a big step in the
history of the Chinese nation," said a commentary by the
official Xinhua News Agency carried Sunday by the Beijing
Daily newspaper.
On most newspaper front pages were pictures of Zhai clutching
a Chinese flag as he hovered in space outside the Shenzhou 7
vessel, alongside photos of Chinese President Hu Jintao on a
telephone as he spoke to the astronauts.
The spacewalk required the astronauts to first depressurize
and then repressurize the orbital module and proved the
effectiveness of Zhai's Feitian space suit, produced by China
at a cost of $4.4 million. Liu wore a nearly identical
Russian-made Orlan suit, according to the reports.
The spacewalk paves the way for assembling a space station
from two Shenzhou orbital modules, the next major goal of
China's manned spaceflight program.
China is also pursuing lunar exploration and may attempt to
land a man on the moon in the next decade — possibly ahead of
NASA's 2020 target date for returning to the moon.
China launched its first manned mission, Shenzhou 5, in 2003,
becoming only the third country after Russia and the United
States to launch a man into space. That was followed by a
two-man mission in 2005.
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