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Astronaut Greets China In Country's 1st Spacewalk

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Los Angeles Times

Published: September 28, 2008

BEIJING - A Chinese astronaut stepped outside the Shenzhou 7 spacecraft Saturday and waved a small red Chinese flag at the millions of his countrymen watching on live television and cheering at their nation's latest conquest.

Zhai Zhigang, 41, pulled himself out of the orbiting module at 4:40 p.m. Beijing time, latched himself to a handrail and then waved to a national audience during a live broadcast of the country's third manned space mission.

"I am here greeting the Chinese people and the people of the world," Zhai said, waving to a camera attached to the module.

The feat was part of China's effort to establish a space station by 2020 and eventually to land on the moon.

For the Chinese government, which devotes extensive media coverage to its manned space missions, the achievement was another step toward establishing the country as an economic and technological superpower.

With the 15-minute spacewalk, China became the third country to accomplish the feat, following the United States and Russia.

During the spacewalk, in which Zhai floated tethered outside the spacecraft, the astronaut performed some tests on lubricants, but the event seemed to be as much about public relations as science.
Chinese media boasted that the $4.4 million spacesuit he wore was made entirely in China, while two other crew members on the mission wore Russian suits. The spacewalk was the highlight of Shenzhou 7's 68-hour mission.

Information from The New York Times was used in this report.

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