Special Report: Third Manned Space Mission
Commentary: Taikonaut
Zhai's small step historical leap for China
China's first
spacewalker
Backgrounder: Chinese
footprints in outer space
BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The People's Bank of
China, the central bank, said on Monday that it would issue a set of gold and
silver coins on Oct. 8 to commemorate the success of the country's maiden
spacewalk.
The issuance comprises 30,000 gold coins, with a face
value of 150 yuan (22 U.S. dollars) each, and 60,000 silver coins, with a face
value of 10 yuan each.
The head of each coin will have the solar system
design while the tail will bear a color portrait of a taikonaut conducting a
spacewalk and the Chinese words "To commemorate the success of China's first
spacewalk", the central bank said.
The coins are produced by Shenyang Mint and will be
distributed by the China Gold Coin Inc., it said.
Zhai Zhigang, the first Chinese to walk in outer
space, and the other two astronauts in the Shenzhou-7 spacecraft safely returned
to earth from a historic mission Sunday afternoon.
The Shenzhou-7 that carried the three astronauts
blasted off Thursday evening and flew 68 hours in space which included the
20-minute spacewalk on Saturday.
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China's Shenzhou-7 spacecraft's re-entry
module lands safely in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
(Xinhua/Wang Jianmin)
Photo
Gallery>>> |
BEIJING, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Shenzhou-7 space
module carrying three taikonauts landed safely by parachute Sunday afternoon in
China's northern grassland, after a landmark spacewalk mission that leads the
country further in its space exploration.
Astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming, and Jing Haipeng
came back from a 68-hour flight, which included a 20-minute spacewalk on
Saturday. Full story
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Photo taken on Sept. 28, 2008, at the
Beijing Space Command and Control Center in Beijing, China, shows the
three Chinese taikonnauts reporting their body condition in the module of
the spacecraft Shenzhou-7 travelling in the last circle before returning
back to earth. Shenzhou-7 has closed the door of re-entry module and
entered its return phase. (Xinhua/Chen Jianli)
Photo
Gallery>>> |
BEIJING, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Three Chinese astronauts
onboard the spacecraft Shenzhou-7 are heading back to the Earth after
accomplishing China's first spacewalk.
The three taikonauts switched to in-cabin space suits
at 11:10 a.m. on Sunday and control data for the return trip had be dictated to
the spacecraft. Full story
