On Sept. 25, 2008, China's space program launched its third human spaceflight mission, Shenzhou 7.
Three astronauts blasted off in the Shenzhou spacecraft on a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. They spent three days in orbit and conducted the first ever spacewalk for the Chinese space program.
The Shenzhou 7 crew also deployed a mini satellite called Banxing, which was used to take photos and videos of the spacecraft.
Why it mattered
The Shenzhou 7 mission lasted just three days in space, but it marked a giant leap forward for the China's human spaceflight program.
Three astronauts - commander Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng - were the first three-person crew to fly in space for China's space program. They spent 68 hours and 27 minutes in space during a mission that ran from Sept. 25 to Sept. 28 in 2008. All three of the astronauts were 42 years old at the time.
It was Zhai Zhigang, a fighter pilot turned space traveler, who performed the first spacewalk for China. He wore the country's then-new $15 million (100 million yuan) Feitian spacesuit (its name means Sea Hawk) and waved a Chinese flag during the extravehicular activity, which lasted about 20 minutes and was designed to prove out the spacesuit, a new airlock system from Shenzhou 7's orbital module and other technologies.
The spacewalk, as well as the launch and landing of Shenzhou 7, was broadcast live on television in another first for China's space program.
"As compared with the Shenzhou V and Shenzhou VI manned space flight, the Shenzhou VII manned space flight made breakthrough in a series of key technologies, including the design technology for integrated airlock & living module, the design technology for extravehicular activity procedure, the design technology for relay satellite data terminal system, the design technology for in-orbit test, the localization & application technology for spaceflight products, the design 7 application technology for 3-person carrying capacity of manned spaceship, and the design technology for release of concomitant satellite," the China Manned Spaceflight Engineering Office wrote in a mission overview.
China's then premiere Wen Jiabao called Shenzhou 7 "a victory of the Chinese space and technological field and amonumental achievement in the socialist causes," according to China's state run Xinhua news agency.
The Shenzhou 7 crew landed in Inner Mongolia on Sept. 28 to wrap up their historic mission. The mission set the stage for more ambitious flights to follow, including docking missions and flights to small Tiangong space labs that ultimately led to the construction of China's Tiangong space station in orbit today.
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