Chinese Astronauts Return Safely...(28/09/08)
SHANGHAI — Three Chinese astronauts returned safely to earth in their space capsule late Sunday afternoon after spending nearly three days in low earth orbit and completing the nation’s first spacewalk, according to Chinese state television.
The re-entry capsule of the Shenzhou VII spacecraft floated down by parachute and landed on the grasslands of north China at 5:37 p.m. Beijing time. The capsule was located about ten minutes later by a search and rescue team, which helped the three astronauts climb out.
The landing was shown on national television and the three astronauts appeared relatively well. After emerging from a cramped, round capsule, they sat on what looked like lawn chairs, waved to the cameras and spoke briefly.
"It was a glorious mission, full of challenges but the result is perfect," one of the astronauts, Zhai Zhigang, said after the landing, according to the state-run news media.
China called its third manned space mission a complete success and a "major breakthrough" for the country’s space program, which hopes to establish a space station and to eventually send a man to the moon.
On Saturday afternoon, Mr. Zhai completed the nation’s first space walk, floating above an orbital module and waving a small Chinese flag.
Beijing sees the space program as a major yardstick of the country’s economic and technological development, and also a means to strengthening the country’s image at home and abroad.
China, which has spent billions of dollars building up its space program over the past decade, is only the third country, after Russia and the United States, to send humans into space with its own space ship.
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