Latest Shenzhou programme Stories

By Christopher Bodeen BEIJING - Astronauts aboard China's Shenzhou 7 spacecraft prepared Friday for the country's first-ever spacewalk today. Prepping the two space suits - one Chinese, one Russian - takes about 12 hours and includes booting up the power, life support and other systems and synchronizing them, said Wang Zhaoyao, deputy director of China's manned space program office. "This is China's first attempt (at a spacewalk) so there are a lot of uncertainties," Wang said. The...

China's first spacewalk team returns home Chinese taikonaut Zhai Zhigang is helped out of the Shenzhou-7 re- entry module after it landed in Siziwang Banner in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Sunday. Zhai made the country's first spacewalk in the mission. Zhai, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng stayed inside the capsule after landing for about 45 minutes to adapt to Earth's gravity before slowly crawling out the narrow entrance. A senior Chinese space official said the mission -...

Three Chinese astronauts emerged from their space capsule yesterday upon a jubilant return to Earth after successfully completing the country's first spacewalk mission. State broadcaster CCTV showed their Shenzhou 7 spaceship landing under clear skies in the grasslands of China's northern Inner Mongolia region at 5:37pm (1037 BST). Premier Wen Jiabao applauded at mission control in Beijing. "The astronauts feel very good," mission commander Zhai Zhigang said as the vessel...

THREE Chinese astronauts emerged from their capsule yesterday upon a jubilant return to Earth after successfully completing the country's first-ever spacewalk mission. State broadcaster CCTV showed their Shenzhou 7 spaceship landing under clear skies in the grasslands of China's northern Inner Mongolia region at 5:37pm (1037 BST). Premier Wen Jiabao applauded at mission control in Beijing. "The astronauts feel very good," mission commander Zhai Zhigang said as the vessel floated down to...

THE three Chinese astronauts who went on a 68-hour voyage and the country's first space walk landed safely back on earth yesterday. Their spacecraft parachuted down to the grassland of Inner Mongolia at dusk, and doctors rushed to open the capsule. Space walker Zhai Zhigang was the first to emerge and was helped to a nearby chair, where he was greeted with flowers and applause. He said he was "proud of his motherland" after completing his mission. PremierWen Jiabao said...

By STEPHEN WHITE THREE Chinese astronauts returned home as heroes yesterday after a 68-hour journey that saw their country's first space walk. Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng made a dusk parachute landing in their capsule in China's Inner Mongolia region. Some 300 waiting officials clapped and handed them flowers. Zhai, the only crew member to go on the 20-minute walk, said: "It was a glorious mission. I'm proud of my country." The trio will spend two weeks in quarantine....

By Emma Graham-Harrison Three Chinese astronauts have returned to Earth after a 68-hour voyage and a space walk that the country's leaders hailed as a major technological achievement. Their Shenzhou VII ("Sacred vessel") spacecraft parachuted down to the steppes of northern Inner Mongolia at dusk. Doctors rushed to open the capsule and check the men as they readjusted to gravity and recovered from the punishing re- entry. Zhai Zhigang, who walked in space, was the first to emerge and was...

FLASH: SHENZHOU-7 RELEASES SMALL MONITORING SATELLITE (c) 2008 Xinhua News Agency - CEIS. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

FLASH: CHINESE PRIMIER WEN JIABAO ARRIVES AT BEIJING AEROSPACE CONTROL CENTER TO WATCH THE LANDING OF SHENZHOU 7 SPACECRAFT (c) 2008 Xinhua News Agency - CEIS. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

By The Associated Press BEIJING (AP) - Chinese celebrated their nation's first spacewalk Saturday, gathering at outdoor TV screens to cheer live video of the milestone for a program that has ambitions of building a space station and challenging the U.S. and Russia in off-world exploration. Stoking national pride one month after the close of the Beijing Olympics, state television's coverage reflected much of the glory onto president and Communist Party leader Hu Jintao, who was present at...