Tech | Posted on Sep 25, 2008 at 10:23pm IST

China’s spectacular spacewalk mission begins

New Delhi: It is China's most ambitious space project yet. Launched on Thursday evening, the Shenzhou VII spacecraft carries on board three astronauts - who'll walk in space for almost 40 minute - something no Chinese has ever done before.

"For this Shenzhou VII manned space mission, we have the confidence, determination and the ability to walk the first step in space for the Chinese people," says Astronout, Jing Haipeng.

The timing is hardly a coincidence - exactly a month before India's first mission to the moon, the unmanned Chandrayaan goes to space alsoChina's has 3 lunar missions in the making.

  • First, it's a rover landing on the moon slated for 2012
  • Second, A mission to return with samples from the moon in 2015
  • And third, a manned lunar expedition in 2017 that's 3 years ahead of America's target of returning to the moon
    • Unlike other countries, China's scientific programme is not open to public debates or subject to insufficient budgetary allocations.

      A fusion of political will and scientific appetite makes them strong contenders to overtake the US in the race to space.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)

Comments (0)

All comments will be published after moderation

What's Trending

Trending Searches

#Narendra Modi#Cognizant Technology Solutions#Tata Steel#Priyanka Chopra#Whitney Houston#Ashok Leyland#Charles Darwin#HIV#Gautam Gambhir#Syria#Narendra Modi#Shashi Tharoor#Saudi Arabia#Salman Khurshid#Chief Justice of