China will stage its first spacewalk in 2008, a top scientist
said yesterday.
Qi Faren, chief designer of China's first five Shenzhou
spaceships said the spacecraft, Shenzhou VII, would carry three
astronauts into space, where it will orbit the Earth for up to five
days. One of them will conduct "extra-vehicular activities".
"I think we are fully prepared for the launch in 2008," Qi, a
chief consultant for Shenzhou VII, told China Daily on the
sidelines of the opening of the annual NPC session.
Qi was invited as a member of the National Committee of the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a top
political advisory body.
The scientist did not specify a timetable for the launch or how
long the astronaut will walk. He just said it would not be very
long.
"In science (projects), reliability is the first," Qi said,
adding the mission would not be staged to coincide with a special
event. He was apparently referring to some media speculation that
the launch would coincide with the 2008 Olympics.
He said Chinese researchers had paid special attention to the
safety of astronauts by improving spacesuits and airlock
technology.
In China's Space Activities 2006, a government policy
document, China said it planned to have its astronauts engage in
extravehicular operations and conduct experiments on spacecraft
rendezvous and docking in the years through 2010.
During the period, the country also plans to carry out research
on short-term manned and long-term autonomously orbiting space
laboratories, according to the document released by the State
Council Information Office last October.
China launched its first unmanned experimental spacecraft in
November 1999.
Three more unmanned Shenzhou spacecrafts followed before the
maiden manned spacecraft, Shenzhou V, was launched and successfully
retrieved on October 15 and 16, 2003.
Having mastered the basic technologies for manned spacecraft,
China became the third country in the world to develop manned
spaceflight independently, according to the policy document.
In October 2005, the Shenzhou VI spacecraft completed a five-day
flight with two astronauts on board, the first time for China to
have men engage in experiments in space, another major achievement
in manned spaceflight.
(China Daily March 6, 2007)