23 September 2008

Shen Zhou 7 Will Be Launched


Recently, an important event about Shen Zhou 7 is payed attention to by Chinese and people all over the world.Tomorrow, the launch window for China's Shenzhou 7 space mission will open. The mission is apparently slated for liftoff at 9:10 PM Beijing time on September 25. This flight will carry three astronauts for the first time, and include China's first spacewalk.

Shenzhou 7 will carry three Chinese military pilots on a three-day mission that will include the burgeoning space program's first spacewalk.
Zhai Zhigang, a 42-year-old pilot in the Chinese air force, will don a 265-pound indigenous spacesuit for a 40-minute excursion outside the Shenzhou 7 spacecraft. Zhai will be tethered to the ship during the spacewalk, reportedly scheduled for Friday or Saturday on the flight's second day in space.

Chinese state television will provide live coverage of the launch and the groundbreaking spacewalk, officials announced earlier this week.
Shenzhou 7 will be China's third human spaceflight since the nation's first piloted mission in 2003. Two astronauts flew into space on a five-day mission in 2005 to demonstrate the ship's ability to support longer flights.

Chinese Engineers Present New Spacesuit
Chinese spaceflight research specialists have presented a new domestically created spacesuit to be used in spacewalks by the country's astronauts, the China Daily said Thursday.
The spacesuit weighs 120 kilograms, and each model will cost about 30 million yuan ($4.4 million) to produce, the state-run paper said.

"The extravehicular spacesuit is now on board the Shenzhou VII at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center," the article said.

The Shenzhou VII, China's third manned spacecraft, will be launched on September 25 from northwest China with three astronauts on board.
The first spacewalk by a Chinese astronaut, to be carried out by 42-year-old fighter pilot Zhai Zhigang, will be broadcast live on national television.