Tue, September 16, 2008
CHINA plans to launch the Shenzhou VII spacecraft next October, its third manned space ship, with three taikonauts aboard, according to Pang Zhihao, a researcher with the China Academy of Space Technology.
"The taikonauts will walk in space for the first time and each move will be broadcast live," Pang said.
"While walking in space they will be attached to the capsule by a belt which will conduct communications and provide oxygen," Pang said.
The taikonauts will be able to walk up to five meters with the belt, the Oriental Morning Post quoted Pang as saying yesterday.
China's first taikonaut Yang Liwei said in an earlier report that the astronauts would perform work outside the capsule such as installing equipment and "tightening screws."
China launched its first unmanned experimental spacecraft in November 1999 and the Shenzhou V spacecraft, with Yang aboard, was launched on October 15, 2003 when China became the third country in the world to send a man into space.
The Shenzhou VI spacecraft completed a five-day flight with two taikonauts on board from October 12-17, 2005, the first time China put two taikonauts into space.
In another development, China's first moon probe Chang'e 1 has switched on its equipment to transmit data back to Earth, a spokesman for the China National Space Administration said yesterday.
Chang'e 1 is now circling the moon at an altitude of 200 kilometers.
The equipment will be tested over the next few days to ensure the probe is operating smoothly and providing reliable data transmission, spokesman Pei Zhaoyu said.
By 2pm yesterday, Chang'e 1 had orbited the moon 158 times, he said.
