China launches spacewalk mission (and fake article) - September 26, 2008
China’s Shenzhou-7 rocket blasted off from Gansu Province on Thursday, successfully carrying three taikonauts into space (see Nature: China's third manned space shot prepares for launch).
Today they started assembling the suit one of their number will wear when he braves the cold, dark vacuum of space. “If Shenzhou-7 mission is successful, China will become the third country after United States and Russia to accomplish a spacewalk, a crucial capacity if China is to have its own permanent space station,” says state news service Xinhua.
Of course, as a number of people are gleefully reporting, Xinhua has also already carried a first-person account of the launch, which was uploaded to their website before the Shenzhou had even lifted off.
The piece titled "Sleepless Night on the Pacific, Sidelights on the Observation and Control of the 30th Lap of Shenzhou 7 Spaceship," which was available most of the day, has now been removed from the Xinhua Web site.
Other angles
Chairman Mao Zedong might have famously proclaimed that "women hold up half the sky," but China has no firm plans yet to send a woman into space even as it proceeds with its third manned mission.
- ReutersWhat's driving China space efforts?
-Analysis from the BBC
Comments
As noted on a certain comedian's news channel, a certain Republican running for president also put an ad in the paper, before his big debate with his opponent, an ad stating that he had won that debate, which he had yet to engage in. Very interesting! It seems in the propoganda wars, East meets West!
Posted by: Diana Gainer | October 3, 2008 07:25 PM