China launches third manned mission
Posted: Fri, Sep 26, 2008, 7:44 AM ET (1144 GMT)
China launched on Thursday Shenzhou 7, its third human spaceflight mission and the first to conduct a spacewalk. The Long March 2F rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 9:10 am EDT (1310 GMT, 9:10 pm Beijing time) Thursday and placed the Shenzhou 7 spacecraft into low Earth orbit. The launch is the third human mission for China and the first in nearly three years; on board are astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming, and Jing Haipeng. The highlight of the mission is a spacewalk scheduled for early Saturday, when one of the three astronauts, wearing a Chinese spacesuit, will exit the spacecraft and retrieve samples from the exterior of the spacecraft. A second member of the crew, wearing an Orlan spacesuit purchased from Russia, will remain in the depressurized orbital module while the third crewmember will be in the pressurized reentry module. The mission is slated to last three days.
China launched on Thursday Shenzhou 7, its third human spaceflight mission and the first to conduct a spacewalk. The Long March 2F rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 9:10 am EDT (1310 GMT, 9:10 pm Beijing time) Thursday and placed the Shenzhou 7 spacecraft into low Earth orbit. The launch is the third human mission for China and the first in nearly three years; on board are astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming, and Jing Haipeng. The highlight of the mission is a spacewalk scheduled for early Saturday, when one of the three astronauts, wearing a Chinese spacesuit, will exit the spacecraft and retrieve samples from the exterior of the spacecraft. A second member of the crew, wearing an Orlan spacesuit purchased from Russia, will remain in the depressurized orbital module while the third crewmember will be in the pressurized reentry module. The mission is slated to last three days.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Sunday, April 20
Space ISAC Announces UK Global Hub During 40th Annual Space Symposium
Space ISAC — 11:22 am ET (1522 GMT) Outpost Awarded DAF Contract for the AFRL Rocket Cargo Vanguard Program to Advance Deployable Heat Shield Technology for Shipping Container Size Deliveries from Space
Business Wire — 11:18 am ET (1518 GMT) With NASA's Webb, Dying Star's Energetic Display Comes Into Full Focus
STScI — 11:16 am ET (1516 GMT) AIAA Statement on Blue Origin’s Successful NS-31 Mission
AIAA — 11:13 am ET (1513 GMT) Evidence of Dark Matter-Free Dwarf Galaxy Challenges Conventional Galaxy Formation Models
Keck Observatory — 11:13 am ET (1513 GMT) |
