Chinese astronauts began preparing for the nation's first spacewalk after the Shenzhou VII craft entered orbit as part of a program to put a man on the moon by 2020.
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China's third manned spaceflight executed its ``orbit maneuver successfully'' at 4:05 a.m. Beijing time today, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The craft carrying three people blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern Gansu late yesterday.
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China's space program, run by its military, launched a lunar probe one year ago, the first step of a three-phase program that aims to land an astronaut on the moon by 2020 -- the same year NASA's astronauts plan to return. China joined the former Soviet Union and U.S. as the only nations to put a man into orbit when its Shenzhou V carried astronaut Yang Liwei into space five years ago.
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This is a serious, conscious move on their part to prove to themselves and the world that they are an international power,'' said Gary E. Payton, the U.S. Air Force's deputy undersecretary for space programs, at a Space Foundation breakfast in Washington yesterday. Human spaceflight is part of that equation, in their mind.''
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China said last year it wants to become the 17th member of the International Space Station program. Other members include the U.S., Canada and countries in the European Space Agency.
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The U.S. excludes China from the program, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit group based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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Some in China see it as an attempt to deny China's `seat at the table' -- one of the concerns that led to China's decision to invest in the Shenzhou program,'' the group said on its Web site.
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Space Station
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China's plans include building its own space station, according to Xinhua.
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The country's economy, the world's fourth-largest, has expanded at an average 9.9 percent a year since former leader Deng Xiaoping abandoned hard-line communist policies and moved toward a free market three decades ago.
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The mission launched yesterday will last 68 hours, including a 30-minute space walk at about 4:30 p.m. Beijing time tomorrow, Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily said on its Web site yesterday.
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The spacecraft is scheduled to land in the central area of Inner Mongolia after its mission is completed, Xinhua said.
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Satellite Ships
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The three astronauts on board, Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng, all age 42, will wear spacesuits designed by China and Russia, according to the report. China will deploy nine satellite ships and 30 planes to track the walk, Xinhua said.
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China carried out its second manned space mission from Jiuquan in October 2005, carrying astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng.
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China's space program is ramping up just as the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration's winds down.
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The U.S. will retire its space shuttles in 2010 and turn its attention to building a replacement, the lunar-capable Orion. The job is expected to take at least five years. During that time, the U.S. will pay Russia as much as $2.8 billion to ferry U.S. astronauts and cargo to the space station.
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The then-Soviet Union made the first manned spaceflight in April 1961, with cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbiting aboard Vostok 1. Alan Shepard made the first American flight less than one month later. John Glenn, who went on to become a U.S. senator, completed the first U.S. orbital mission in February 1962.
<br>
China's third manned spaceflight executed its ``orbit maneuver successfully'' at 4:05 a.m. Beijing time today, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The craft carrying three people blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern Gansu late yesterday.
<br>
China's space program, run by its military, launched a lunar probe one year ago, the first step of a three-phase program that aims to land an astronaut on the moon by 2020 -- the same year NASA's astronauts plan to return. China joined the former Soviet Union and U.S. as the only nations to put a man into orbit when its Shenzhou V carried astronaut Yang Liwei into space five years ago.
<br>
This is a serious, conscious move on their part to prove to themselves and the world that they are an international power,'' said Gary E. Payton, the U.S. Air Force's deputy undersecretary for space programs, at a Space Foundation breakfast in Washington yesterday. Human spaceflight is part of that equation, in their mind.''
<br>
China said last year it wants to become the 17th member of the International Space Station program. Other members include the U.S., Canada and countries in the European Space Agency.
<br>
The U.S. excludes China from the program, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit group based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
<br>
Some in China see it as an attempt to deny China's `seat at the table' -- one of the concerns that led to China's decision to invest in the Shenzhou program,'' the group said on its Web site.
<br>
Space Station
<br>
China's plans include building its own space station, according to Xinhua.
<br>
The country's economy, the world's fourth-largest, has expanded at an average 9.9 percent a year since former leader Deng Xiaoping abandoned hard-line communist policies and moved toward a free market three decades ago.
<br>
The mission launched yesterday will last 68 hours, including a 30-minute space walk at about 4:30 p.m. Beijing time tomorrow, Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily said on its Web site yesterday.
<br>
The spacecraft is scheduled to land in the central area of Inner Mongolia after its mission is completed, Xinhua said.
<br>
Satellite Ships
<br>
The three astronauts on board, Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng, all age 42, will wear spacesuits designed by China and Russia, according to the report. China will deploy nine satellite ships and 30 planes to track the walk, Xinhua said.
<br>
China carried out its second manned space mission from Jiuquan in October 2005, carrying astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng.
<br>
China's space program is ramping up just as the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration's winds down.
<br>
The U.S. will retire its space shuttles in 2010 and turn its attention to building a replacement, the lunar-capable Orion. The job is expected to take at least five years. During that time, the U.S. will pay Russia as much as $2.8 billion to ferry U.S. astronauts and cargo to the space station.
<br>
The then-Soviet Union made the first manned spaceflight in April 1961, with cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbiting aboard Vostok 1. Alan Shepard made the first American flight less than one month later. John Glenn, who went on to become a U.S. senator, completed the first U.S. orbital mission in February 1962.
