China space program advances with first spacewalk

BEIJING -- China has celebrated its first-ever space walk, fueling ambitions to build a space station and push further into areas of exploration previously dominated by Russia and the United States.

Crowds gathered before outdoor television screens to watch the live broadcast of the event Saturday, further stoking national pride one month after the close of the Beijing Olympics.

State television's coverage reflected much of the glory onto President Hu Jintao, who was present at Thursday's launch and watched the spacewalk at Beijing's ground control center.

"Your success represents a new breakthrough in our manned space program," Hu told the astronauts in a scripted exchange that was also broadcast live.

"The motherland and the people thank you," said Hu, who chairs the powerful Communist Party and government military committees that oversee the space program.

The spacewalk was mainly aimed at testing China's mastery of the technology involved. Mission commander Zhai Zhigang's sole task was to retrieve a rack attached to the outside of the orbital module containing an experiment involving solid lubricants.

Tethered to handles attached to the Shenzhou 7 ship's orbital module, Zhai remained outside for about 13 minutes before climbing back inside.

"Greetings to all the people of the nation and all the people of the world," Zhai, facing an external camera, said as he floated halfway out of the open hatch.

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Fellow astronaut Liu Boming also emerged briefly from the capsule to hand Zhai a Chinese flag. The third crewmember, Jing Haipeng, monitored the ship from inside the re-entry module.

While successful, the spacewalk wasn't without its anxious moments.

Zhai, a 41-year-old fighter pilot, appeared to struggle with the hatch and a fire alarm was triggered in the orbiter as he began the spacewalk.

Wang Zhaoyao, deputy director of manned space flight, conceded that the combined effects of weightlessness and depressurization on the hatch opening operation hadn't been fully anticipated. He blamed a faulty sensor for the fire alarm.