China successfully launched its Shenzhou VII spacecraft into
orbit last night, with three Chinese astronauts ready to carry
out the country's third manned space mission. During the
scheduled three-day mission in space, China ground officials
expect the taikonauts to carry out the ambitious space program's
first space walk. Furthermore, a different astronaut will wear a
reported $4.4 million space suit that was designed and
manufactured in China with no help from foreigners. The
taikonauts will share a 14-cubic-meter workspace while in space,
which will be the same amount of cramped space two taikonauts
shared during the Shenzhou 6 space mission. The Chinese
government is investing billions of dollars into a space program
that has developed quickly and has had three manned launches in
the past five years. China plans to create its own space station
by 2020, and hopes to put a man on the moon shortly thereafter.
The military-operated space program last year launched a lunar
probe, which was the first step of a