Vol. XXXI, No: 1 October 23 – 29, 2008 - Vol. XXXI, No: 7
Planet Publications presents:
China blasts off Far East goes far out CAROLINE GEORGE International Events Bureau China has proved that this year belongs to them. The nation who hosted one of the most successful Olympics in recent history underwent their first spacewalk this past month, marking their emergence into an exclusive club whose members previously included only Russia and the United States. On September 25th, the Shenzhou 7 space capsule, carrying astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Jing Haipeng and Liu Boming onboard, blasted off from the Jiquan Space Centre in China’s northwest Gansu province. The historical event lasted just 20 minutes, but the voyage demonstrated China’s advancing technical prowess in its aim to conduct a space walk. ”The space program as a whole is part of a greater scheme of technological development for China. For this spacewalk, for the first time, they used a second satellite,” notes Yuan Wang, a second year student specializing in East Asian studies. “They can use the second satellite as a transmitter. This is really important because it has a great commercial purpose, as well as a military purpose.”
The space walk is part of a larger plan for the Jiquan Space Agency. Within 10 years, it hopes to achieve lunar exploration, first performed by American Neil Armstrong in 1969.. “There is a race, but not in a negative way. It’s a new era and space resources are important. Everyone’s trying to get it, just like everyone is trying to get water,” Wang explained. The mission marked China’s third successful manned launch. The first occurred in 2003 aboard the Shenzhou 5. With speculation of a moonwalk scheduled for as early as 2017 and completion of a space station by 2020, Wang cites the Chinese philosophy of “taking smaller strides, but fast,” in the nation’s endeavors to conquer space exploration. “It’s definitely going to improve China’s international status,” Wang says of the implications this mission will have on China’s global impact in the future. “It’s also going to have a greater emphasis on China’s neighbours, India and Japan, for space exploration because they don’t want to fall too far behind.”