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BEIJING: China’s astronauts were set for a triumphant return to
Earth on Sunday after making the country’s first spacewalk, with a
hero’s welcome awaiting the three men whose exploits captivated
the nation.
Commander Zhai Zhigang etched his name in the
history books of this country of 1.3 billion people with a 15-minute
walk in space on Saturday that set another milestone in China’s
transformation into a global power.
“I feel well,” Zhai said from outside the
Shenzhou VII, after countless millions around the globe watched live
on television as China joined the United States and the former
Soviet Union as the only nations to complete a spacewalk.
“I am greeting the Chinese people and the
people of the world,” he said.
Zhai emerged from the module holding the Chinese
flag—a moment of great drama and symbolism just days before the
50th anniversary of the US space agency NASA on Wednesday, which is
also China’s National Day.
In a televised chat with Zhai live from mission
control, President Hu Jintao praised the 41-year-old commander.
“Your spacewalk was a complete success. It’s
a major breakthrough in the development of our manned space
program,” Hu said. “The motherland and the people thank you.”
As the Shenzhou VII prepared to touch back down
in Inner Mongolia around 0900 GMT with Zhai and fellow crew members
Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng, a surge of national pride swept the
nation.
“I felt so proud when I saw Zhai Zhigang
emerge from the cabin with the Chinese flag. Seeing the five-starred
red flag in space, it shows China can do anything it sets its mind
to,” said He Changqiang, a Beijing businessman.
Online forums overflowed with ecstatic
declarations of China’s greatness.
“With the flag flying over the cosmos, space
has now become part of the great Chinese motherland,” said one
user on popular Internet portal Sohu.com.
The spacewalk was the highlight of the
three-man, three-day voyage—China’s third manned foray into
space—and is considered an important step toward China’s plans
to building a space station.
It comes four decades after American and Soviet
astronauts did the same, at a time when China was mired in political
chaos, poverty and isolation.
“Following the Soviets and Americans, the
black-haired and yellow-skinned Chinese have now left a footprint in
space,” declared a Beijing Youth Daily commentary, which also
evoked the words of the first man to walk on the moon, US astronaut
Neil Armstrong.
“This is one small step for a man, but one
giant leap for the country,” it said.
Tethered to the craft with two safety wires,
Zhai retrieved a test sample of a solid lubricant placed outside the
orbital module.
The modest drill was intended to replicate the
type of task that future spacewalkers will have to perform.
A fire alert that was heard during the live
transmission of the spacewalk turned out to be a mistake in one of
the sensors, mission headquarters said.
After reentering the atmosphere, the orbiter is
slated to descend safely to Earth via giant parachutes, with the
craft firing its thrusters to further cushion the landing.
The full hero’s welcome will have to wait at
least 10 days, however, as Zhai and his comrades are due to be
quarantined for medical and other checks that are now routine for
Chinese astronauts, state press said Sunday.
As part of China’s space program, two more
unmanned craft will be launched by 2010, as well as another manned
spaceship with a crew of three to start work on the lab or space
station, according to the China Daily.
After China sent its first man into space in
2003, it followed up with a two-man mission in 2005.
-- AFP
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