Chinese Wrap Up Whirlwind Space Mission

I'll hand it to those Chinese, they are efficient, even in their orbital space missions. Launch one day, spacewalk the next and land on the third day. That's exactly what the Chinese did by wrapping up their three day manned mission this morning by landing their Shenzhou spacecraft in a Mongolian field. Shenzhou 7 was only China's third manned mission, but it was their first to include an EVA making China the third nation to have the capability of independently launching astronauts, and now conduct spacewalks. Designed to pave the way for future missions including rendezvous and docking of spacecraft and an eventual space laboratory, Shenzhou 7 was huge step forward for the pride of the Chinese people. Some are even speculating that the Chinese are trying to get to the Moon before NASA makes their return in a new "Space Race". If that's the case, they'll have to increase the frequency of launches as their last took place nearly three years ago. While the Chinese are about 40 years behind NASA and the Russians in terms of achievements, I still applaud their determination to chart their own story in space exploration history, even if they make it up before it happens.



[Space.com]
AP Photos


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