Having faked information relating to the Shenzhou launch last week, the question some are asking is whether the first Chinese space walk is real. The Chinese reported on the successful launch and what was said between the astronauts before it had even occurred.
I would think that it probably is. The walk took place some 343 km over the earth.
Commander of the space mission, Zhai Zhigang, left the Shenzhou VII spacecraft at 4.43 pm Beijing time and floated in orbit for about 15 minutes. China became the third country to have an astronaut complete a spacewalk and continues China’s rise as a space and super power.
China now has an objective of building a space station. Two unmanned spacecraft and a manned mission to begin construction of the space station are to be launched by 2010.
The Shenzhou VII spacecraft was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China late Thursday.
The spacecraft is scheduled to return to earth at about 5.00 pm on Sunday Beijing time and is expected to land in the northern Inner Mongolia region.
The footage below shows the first Chinese space walk:
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